The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Morning Lesson: June 21, 2026.
Reader: Dear friends, in the first part of the lesson we will watch a recorded lesson from the 22nd of May, 2002, based on the article, “What Is, “There Is No Blessing in That Which Is Counted,” in the Work?” The writings of Rabash, “What Is, “There Is No Blessing in That Which Is Counted,” in the Work?” We will read the article together in the Ten. We have 36 minutes for that, 36.
Reading: (00:40) What Is, “There Is No Blessing in That Which Is Counted,” in the Work?
Article 18, 1989
It is written in The Zohar (Ki Tissa, Item 2): “Come and see: It was established that there is no blessing above on that which is counted. And if you say, ‘How were Israel counted?’ He took from them ransom for their souls, and they established that they did not calculate until all the ransom was collected and reached the number. It follows that in the beginning, Israel are blessed when receiving the ransom. Afterward, they count the ransom and bless Israel once more. It turns out that Israel were blessed in the beginning and in the end, and there was no plague in them. He asks, ‘Why does a plague appear because of the count?’ He answers, ‘It is because there is no blessing in that which is counted. And since the blessing has departed, the Sitra Achra [other side] is on it and can do harm.’”
We should understand the following: 1) If there is no blessing in that which is counted, what is the difference if we count people or the ransom instead of the people, since in the end, we know the number of people? Thus, how does it help if we swap the ransom because finally, we know their number? 2) Why is the ransom specifically a half shekel and not a full or a quarter shekel? What does half mean to us? 3) Why does the verse say, “The rich will not give more and the poor will not give less”? Is there anyone who does not know that if we need to know a certain number and swap, so that instead of counting people, we count something else, it must be the same thing for everyone, or it will not be possible to know the count? What does this come to teach us? 4) How does it benefit us if we are blessed in the beginning and in the end if there is counting in the middle? Do the blessings spoil the counting if there cannot be a blessing in that which is counted?
To understand all this in the work, we must pay attention to the purpose that we must achieve. It is known that every purpose that we want to achieve requires labor. Without labor, nothing can be accomplished. Thus, in the work of the Creator, what is the purpose of that we want to achieve and for which we labor?
The answer is, achieving Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, which is called “equivalence of form.” That is, as the goal of the Creator in creating the world was to do good to His creations, our goal should be to do good to the Creator. In other words, man should do things to please the Creator. This is called “equivalence of form.”
This means that when the two forms come as one, the purpose of the Creator dresses in the purpose of the created beings. It follows that His will to do good to His creations, which is the purpose of creation, dresses in the desire to bestow contentment upon his Maker, and this is called “receiving in order to bestow.” It follows that we should say that our reward for the labor is the obtainment of the goal, much like corporeal matters, when we exert, and in return achieve the goal that we aspire for, for nothing is given without an effort.
It follows that when a person wants to walk on the path of truth in order to achieve his goal, called “Dvekut with the Creator,” where all his actions are in order to bestow, he must put in labor, which is called “suffering.” This means that a person has to go against his nature, meaning that man was created with Kelim [vessels] to delight himself, and he must walk on the path that will lead to pleasing the Creator and not for his own sake.
However, the body resists it. There are wars over this. Once, the desire to bestow prevails, and once, the will to receive triumphs. Yet, we must know that all the powers we will have so we can go against the will to receive, we must receive from the Torah. It is as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.”
That is, what is the reward one expects when he engages in Torah and labors in the Torah? It is to aim to be rewarded with the desire to bestow upon the Creator. This is considered that he is learning Torah in order to achieve Lishma [for Her sake], called “in order to bestow.” This is regarded as “cling unto His attributes.”
Accordingly, there are two manners in labor in the Torah: 1) He labors in the study of Torah in order to thereby obtain self-benefit, such as in order to be called “Rabbi” or for payment of money. 2) He labors in the Torah in order to obtain the power to go against self-benefit. It follows that here there is a different discernment to make in the labor. That is, a person must make great efforts in order to have the strength to labor in the Torah for this intention which is against the body. Moreover, the body resists him as much as it can and does not want to give him energy to exert in the Torah with this intention. But in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], the body sees that if it gets what it wants to receive in return, the body gives him fuel to work so he can exert in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], since the reward it expects to receive does not go against the body. Hence, the body can give him energy to work.
Therefore, when a person sees that he can obtain self-benefit through labor, he has the power to do things and make great efforts, and there is no weakness in his work. This is how “women, little ones, and uneducated people” are first educated, since it is possible to convince a person to engage in Torah and Mitzvot only through Lo Lishma.
However, when a person should replace the goal, meaning where in the beginning of his work in Torah and Mitzvot, his goal—which he wanted to achieve through the labor—was self-benefit, now he replaces the goal. That is, where he thought, “When will I achieve the goal for my will to receive so I can enjoy?” now he yearns for the goal and says, “When will I be able to delight the Creator and relinquish self-benefit?”
Since this purpose is against nature, he needs more faith in the Creator, since he must always exert to obtain the greatness of the Creator. That is, to the extent that he believes in the greatness of the Creator, to that extent he can work with this intention. For this reason, it is upon a person to pray each day that the Creator will open his eyes so he will recognize the greatness and importance of the Creator, so he has fuel to labor with the aim to bestow.
There are two discernments to make in this: 1) to have a desire to bestow contentment upon his Maker, that this will be his only aspiration, 2) to do things with the aim that the actions will bring him a desire to do things in order to please the Creator. In other words, he must work and toil extensively to obtain light and Kli [vessel]. Light means that he received from the Creator a desire where he craves all day to bring contentment to the Creator. A Kli is a desire, meaning that he wants to bestow upon the Creator. Those two, he should receive from the Creator, meaning both the light and the Kli.
However, a person should demand this, and it is written about this, “Zion, no one requires her.” Our sages said, “This means that she ought to be sought,” meaning that there must be a demand on the part of the lower ones that the Creator will give them both the light and the Kli.
Accordingly, we should interpret what is written (in the Musaf [supplemental] prayer of Rosh Hashanah): “Those who are far will hear and come, and will give You a crown of kingship.” It is known that the order of the work is as it is written, “We will do and we will hear.” “Doing” pertains to the created beings. This is called “which God has created to do.” That is, the part of doing pertains to us, and by this we will be rewarded with hearing, which is what the Creator lets us hear. But of themselves, the creatures cannot take upon themselves the work for the Creator, which is only for the Creator, without interference of self-benefit.
Yet, the hearing comes from the Creator, as it was at the time of the giving of the Torah, when the people of Israel heard from the Creator “I,” and “You shall not have.” But before this there was a preparation to receive the Torah, as our sages said (Shabbat 87) that there was the matter of limiting and abstaining, as it is written, “And you shall dedicate today and tomorrow.” Subsequently, they were rewarded with hearing the Torah.
By this we should interpret, “Those who are far will hear and come,” meaning the fact that they are far, that there is a Torah [law] of life, which is called as it is written, “For with You is a source of life,” which is Dvekut with the Creator, but man is far from it. This distancing comes also from the Creator, since it is possible to be far from something only when a person clearly knows that there is a reality but he, for some reason, is far from it.
Hence, first a person must have faith in the Creator, and then he can say that he feels far from the Creator. It follows that this feeling that he is far must give him a feeling that the Creator watches over the world, and there is judgment and there is a judge, except he feels this from afar. Otherwise, who will tell him that he is far from the Creator?
For this reason, when a person feels far from the Creator, the Creator alerts him to this by appearing to a person from afar. This means that when the Creator is hidden from him, a person cannot be in a state of remoteness, for who tells him that he is far? However, by the Creator appearing to him a little bit, the feeling comes to him that he is far.
This is the meaning of “Those who are far will hear,” meaning that the Creator sends them hearing so they will feel that they are far and will come near, meaning demand of the Creator to bring them closer so they can achieve equivalence of form, which is vessels of bestowal. However, a person can obtain these Kelim only through help from above. This is called “a light that dresses in a Kli,” meaning in the desire for this power.
This is as it is written (Psalms 127), “Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor in it in vain.” The meaning of “Unless the Lord builds a house” is that the heart becomes a building of Kedusha [holiness]. “Labor in it in vain” means that the labor is futile. “Its builders” are those who want to build a structure of Kedusha. They must know and believe that without His help, for He both gives the Kli, the desire and yearning to bestow, as well as the light, which is the power that a person receives so he can work in order to bestow. He gives everything, but a person must first act. That is, before the work, a person must say, “If I am not for me, who is for me.” Afterward, he should say, “Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor in it in vain.”
As it was prior to the giving of the Torah, meaning in order for the people of Israel to be able to hear the Torah that was given on Mt. Sinai, there was preparation on the part of the people of Israel, who were given limitation and abstention. This is considered preparation on the part of the lower one. Afterward, it is possible to receive the Torah from the Creator.
However, during the preparation, before a person is rewarded with a Kli called “a need to be able to work so that all his actions are in order to bestow,” that need ascends and descends in him. At times he yearns for the Creator to give him the power to be able to do everything for the sake of the Creator and asks the Creator to help him. At times, he later suffers a descent, meaning that he feels no need to bring contentment to the Creator. Rather, he craves only counsels and tactics to satisfy himself with pleasures for the will to receive for himself.
If, during the descent, a thought concerning spirituality comes to him—that he must work in order to bestow—he begins to think about the Creator, why the Creator forbade working for self-benefit and why should the Creator mind if a person does work for his own benefit.
At that time he doubts the Torah and Mitzvot altogether, why He wants to afflict us and has given us laws that are hard to observe? If He really is a merciful father, why has He made us observe His Mitzvot through many prohibitions? etc. Sometimes, during an ascent, he also thinks about the Creator and why He has given us commandments of interest, such as “Keep your souls.”
That is, the fact that man must eat, drink, and so forth, for what purpose did the Creator create these things? Does the existence of these things make a person smarter and more heaven-fearing? Therefore, the person asks, Why are corporeal pleasures needed? since he sees no spiritual benefit from it.
Thus, a person ascends and descends. At times he does not understand why corporeal pleasures were given to us in the first place, since now he understands that man’s main purpose is to adhere to the Creator, so why were these corporeal pleasures created?
During the descent, it is the complete opposite. He asks himself, Why were many things prohibited to us? and in general, Why is it forbidden to work for self-benefit and we are as though compelled to work for the sake of the Creator, and if not, then we must suffer in this world and in the next?
This is the order of the work during the preparation period. That is, before a person is rewarded with permanent faith, he is in the catapult, thrown from end to end, and seeing that he has no freedom of choice. Rather, what they want above is what they do with him, while he is like clay in the hands of a potter without any say about himself.
The person should believe that all the states he goes through are for his sake. That is, specifically through the ups and downs he will achieve the desirable completion, as it is written, “A king who puts to death, and brings to life, and brings forth salvation.” Through the descents, which are regarded as death in the work, and “brings to life,” which is regarded as an ascent in the work, specifically by this He “brings forth salvation,” meaning that man achieves wholeness.
Now we can understand what we asked, Why do we need to count Israel in the first place? That is, who needs to know the number when counting is a dangerous matter, as it is written, “There is no blessing in that which is counted.” And also, what difference does the correction they were given—of giving ransom—make if in the end, we know the number of Israel? Also, what does it add to us if we bless in the beginning and in the end of the count?
In the work, when speaking of everything within one person, we should know what is the counting of Israel. The work to achieve Lishma, meaning to bestow, begins on the right line, called “wholeness.” This is regarded as a man on whom there is blessing. From this, a person should be happy and praise and thank the Creator for rewarding him with some grip on Kedusha, however much he has, since he knows that this, too, he does not deserve.
This is regarded as being content with little. Thus, he has no reason to count it, to see how many qualities of Israel he has, meaning what percentage of his work can he say is Yashar-El, meaning how much effort he is willing to make for the Kedusha, called “for the sake of the Creator.” This is not interesting at all because he says, “Whatever grip I have in Torah and Mitzvot is more important than all the pleasures in the world.”
We could ask about this, If this is so important, why does he settle for little? To this he answers himself, “I probably do not deserve to be given by the Creator a bigger share than I have, and I also see that there are people who do not have even this.” It follows that he is a person in whom there is blessing since he has something with which to be happy, and he sees that the rest of the people are joyful and happy over nonsense, while the Creator has given him the intellect and understanding to grasp that he should rejoice with the Creator.
This is considered that before he comes to count the Yashar-El in him, meaning what he has inside the heart, he first blesses Israel. That is, he says that the Israel in him is blessed, meaning that he has a reason for gladness since he is blessed, and he is content with the little that he has.
Afterward, Israel are counted, meaning he shifts to the quality of the left and begins to introspect how much Torah and fear of heaven he has. At that time, he sees that he is full of faults, and then there can be a plague, meaning that he might come into despair and escape the campaign and say that this work of bestowal is not for him. Yet, he can no longer work in one line because he can no longer fool himself and say that this is real work, since the left keeps telling him what is the work of truth.
This is the meaning of “There is no blessing in that which is counted,” since he always has deficiencies, as it is written, “There is not a righteous man on earth who does good and sins not.” It follows that according to the rule that where there is a lack, there is a grip to the Klipot [shells/peels], meaning that the Klipa [singular for Klipot] shows him that this is not for him. With these complaints, she kills him, meaning that whatever he had in spirituality, she takes away from him and he remains in the form of “The wicked in their lives are called ‘dead.’”
This is the meaning of what is written, that anything that is counted holds no blessing, since it is always deficient and in every lack there is a grip to the Klipot. This is called a “plague,” as it is written, “And there will be no plague in them when you count them.” That is, through the ransom, there will not be death because of the counting. This means that when working in the left line, meaning although we are walking on the left line and there can be a plague, through the ransom, there will be no plague in them.
For this reason, we were given the advice in order for the deficiency not to be apparent to the Klipot: “And they shall each give the ransom for his soul when you count them.” That is, they should not regard the deficiencies they find when a person calculates what percentage are included in the quality of Israel.
Rather, they should calculate how many corrections they must do in order to have ransom for their souls to the Creator, meaning that they will not look at the deficiencies, but at the correction of the deficiencies, by which their soul, which was in the Klipot, will emerge from them and cling to the Creator. This is called “And they gave each one the ransom for his soul,” counting the corrections they must perform.
Thus, they can only see corrections, as our sages said (Yevamot 38), “A bill that is about to be collected is deemed collected.” It follows that when looking at the corrections, it is as though he has already performed them and there is no place of deficiency here.
This is the meaning of the verse, “This is what everyone who is numbered shall give.” We should interpret that seeing the deficiencies is regarded as “everyone who is numbered.” “Half a shekel” means as it is written (A Sage’s Fruit, Vol. 1, p 95), “A prayer makes half.” It is the conduct of one who prays for himself that he has no wholeness but only half, since one who is whole has nothing to pray for. Hence our sages warned us not to work in order to receive reward, but for wholeness.
This means that what a person gives is regarded as half, meaning the Kli, which is the will to receive for himself, which has moved away from the Creator and we must pray that this Kli will connect to the Creator, who is called “the light.” When the light shines in the Kli, it is considered wholeness. This is the meaning of “a prayer makes half,” where “half” means the Kli, for there is no light without a Kli.
Therefore, when he prays and feels his lack, there is room to fill the lack. It follows that the words “this they will give,” mean the Kli, which is half, called “awakening from below,” as was said, that the prayer for the deficiency is already considered a correction.
For example, one person gave his coat to the cleaner to remove stains. He tells the owner of the laundromat, “I’m counting the number of corrections you should make so that I will know how much to pay you.” He asks the owner of the laundromat to fix and remove the stains. But then, it cannot be said that a person despairs when he sees that he has many stains, since he is not counting the stains so as to see how many deficiencies are in his coat. Rather, he counts how many corrections he must do.
It follows that now he is not thinking of his deficiencies, but about the corrections. Naturally, it cannot be said that there is a plague in them (the stains), meaning that he should escape the campaign and say that the work on the path of truth does not pertain to him.
It follows that it is a great correction that we count the ransom and not the deficiencies in people. This is as our sages said, “A bill that is about to be collected is deemed collected.” That is, when we engage in corrections, it is as though it is already corrected because now he is looking at the corrections and not at the deficiencies.
In addition to the abovementioned correction of the ransom, called “ransom for his soul to the Creator,” meaning when we speak of corrections, that there will be Dvekut with the Creator, we must bless before the count. This means that we must walk on the right line, called “blessing,” meaning that he is a person who has no lacks. Afterward, we shift to the left, called “counting,” and then again to the right, which is called “blessing.” This is the meaning of what is written, that through blessing in the beginning and in the end, the count will come true and there will be no plague in them, but rather by this they will achieve true wholeness.
Reader: Now, friends, we'll continue to the lesson from the 22nd of May, 2002, please.
M. Laitman: (36:38) We read an article from Shlavei HaSulam, volume 2, page 240, “What Is, “There Is No Blessing in That Which Is Counted,” in the Work?” In any case, this is still somewhat unclear. What does it mean that it's not counted? It is counted. Shouldn't a person count what he has? Shouldn't he know where he stands? How much he has done, how much more he has been given to do?
Also in the Shulchan Aruch, and generally in laws, there are laws that require counting, there are laws that prohibit counting. They all relate to spiritual work. It depends on what aim and what intention a person comes to count things. Since the will to receive is entirely built from the outset and given to us with the intention of receiving for ourselves alone, so if a person does not approach it in order to correct it, it's forbidden for him to enter into and count this will to receive and dwell within it. Because by doing so, he loses his strength, he comes under the control of the will to receive in order to receive, and he becomes distant from the purpose of creation, from attaining it.
However, if a person first comes to the right line and then proceeds to the left line, then certainly he's obligated to count what he has in the left line and how much he can take from there and correct it, because then the approach becomes creative. It's beneficial for progress and for correction. Therefore, everything depends on the trajectory how one approaches the will to receive. Then it's either forbidden to count it altogether, or on the contrary, we are obligated to count it. Are there any questions?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (39:36) He says that in the ascent and the descent there are doubts. So what does it mean, the right line, if it has nothing to do with the ascent or descent? What is that? Is it a feeling, an understanding, an attitude?
M. Laitman: A person needs to reach a state where his attitude to himself, to his qualities — first he should look only within himself, not at the world and not at others. In any case, we do not understand others at all. Instead, we live within ourselves, and when we look within ourselves we need to look only from the perspective that we come to correct what we have. If we have no ability whatsoever to look at ourselves in such a way, then we cannot look at what we have. So, we first need to engage in preparing ourselves for the correct kind of outlook. Doubts, fears, caution - all these feelings help a person precisely to feel where he is and in what he already excels. I don't understand your question.
Student: Because many times we relate the right line to a good feeling.
M. Laitman: No, no. A good feeling or a bad feeling is the last thing. Certainly, it's written, and live by them. And it's written that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations, and the goal is specifically pleasures, and the Good Who Does Good, which must be felt, and our entire path is a path of correcting the vessel of perception and sensation. Our vessels are vessels for enjoyment, but until we complete the work, until we reach the end of correction, we need to constantly supervise our feelings so that our feelings don't mislead us.
If we follow our feelings then as long as we do not have screens, then our feelings lead us to increasingly excessive use of the desire to enjoy for the sake of receiving. But a person must constantly supervise himself — how much and in what way he uses it. Otherwise he'll never be able to exit the vessels of reception. According to feeling, we cannot determine anything. Baal HaSulam gives several examples of this. He says that if a person has an itch and scratches it, the scratching still gives him pleasure, but the process itself leads him to death, to infection and death.
So what should one follow, what you feel in your emotions, or what you examine with your intellect regarding the actions you're taking? You understand? That's the question. So until I have completed all the corrections, both in this world and in spirituality, on spiritual degrees, it's forbidden for me to spend even a single moment without supervising myself with the intellect and connecting that intellect to the purpose of creation, to what's happening now, to what I'm doing, etc.
Unless, for a specific purpose, you also decide that you are now stepping outside all boundaries, all frameworks, all orders, everything, like on Purim. That's it — become completely lost. But even if we do that, so we do that in a directed way, and then there is also benefit in that. But to be with no supervision at all, that’s completely not...
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (44:46) So what is the joy that comes from me making a correction?
M. Laitman: And from that should be joy. Yes, that every moment, according to a rational, purposeful examination, you see where you are. Whether you can or cannot correct the state is unimportant. What matters is that you already feel it, you sense it, you become impressed by it. And these impressions mean that you pass through the states and you progress.
Student: The necessity for that I can take from the society. But from where do I find this path, this direction? This I also get from the society, right?
M. Laitman: No. Society should not give a person intellect. Society should give a person enlivenment, upliftment. The intellect comes from effort after you have received this enlivenment. You work with the books, with the authors, and you work on the society. From this comes the intellect. The intellect comes as a result of your own effort, not something you receive from the society. Society mainly provides us with the enlivenment of the goal.
Student: What about my exertion? How can I tell that I'm exerting myself? How can I examine myself? How to aim, how to hold myself to that exertion, truly labor. I'm in the will to receive. So what exertion are you talking about?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (46:44) He writes that the person begins to do some soul-searching, to see how much Torah he has, how much labor.
M. Laitman: Fear of heaven, means the extent to which I have this enlivenment toward the Creator and a desire to aim myself in order to bestow upon Him. That is called the fear of heaven, in general. That's all. You don't need to be afraid of Him. If you are afraid of Him, that's your will to receive that's afraid for its own sake. It's not fear of heaven, it's fear of blows, fear of suffering. You're not afraid of the Creator, you're afraid of the suffering you might receive from Him, right?
We just say that I'm afraid of my mother, my mother will hit me. That's how a child thinks, but it's not fear of the mother. It's fear of punishment, of suffering, right? We shouldn't fear suffering. We should fear the Creator. What does it mean, fearing the Creator? It means fearing that we won't be able to give to Him, completely disconnecting the matter from ourselves. That is called fear of heaven. Otherwise, it means that I am afraid of the blow and not of heaven. True, the blow might come from above, but still, the words themselves are imprecise.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (48:15) What does it mean to supervise the states I go through with the intellect?
M. Laitman: There is mind and heart. We need to constantly be under an intellectual and goal-oriented supervision, what state I am in, and what is happening to me. It could be that I'm now in a state where I cannot do anything. I'm like a dead body, unable to move, and so on and so forth. But I see it, I feel that, I know that, and I'm aware that this is my state. Or I'm confused. I'm so confused, that I know nothing. I utter words without feeling what's coming out of my mouth. I cannot organize a single thought. I cannot grasp my mind at all and stabilize it. But I examine my state, and I know that this is the state I'm currently in. In other words, there needs to be some kind of observational mechanism, as though it's not entirely mine, but as though it's truly from the side through which I see myself.
Student: So what makes me more objective where I can...
M. Laitman: I'm not saying that it's an objective observation. It might be non-objective as well. I cannot say what is objective and what is not, but this side view of myself helps me learn myself. Okay, but this is how I learn myself. I have no other way. I have no other choice. I learn myself. I learn who I am, what I am, what else I can do, what to learn with my intellect. Gradually, to the extent that I copy onto myself the qualities of the Creator, I begin to look at myself from the Creator's perspective. Then, little by little, as I begin to identify with the qualities I acquire from Him, I start to see my own qualities as Pharaoh, as an alien force within me.
Student: The Creator's qualities, don't I buy them in the heart?
M. Laitman: Yes, but even so, you carry out this examination with the intellect. You cannot remain only in feelings, because with feelings alone, how do you compare one feeling with another? What is the truth between them? There is good and evil, and there is truth and falseness. Truth and falseness are matters of intellectual and rational examination, whereas good and evil are matters of emotional examination. So you need to proceed according to truth and falseness. You make discernments, but not according to bitter and sweet. Bitter and sweet, for us, are things that would throw us in the opposite direction. If it was simply the opposite of Kedusha, of holiness, and we knew what the opposite was, that would be one thing. But to even determine what is opposite, I need intellect, not just bitter and sweet. Sit here. Okay, over there you've got fresh air. Otherwise you will fall asleep soon.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (51:58) We say that the intellect serves the emotions. The emotions come first, and the mind, well some desire comes, and the mind serves it. It serves. How can I hold my mind above the emotion?
M. Laitman: How can I hold my mind above the emotion? What can help?
Student: Yes, so that emotions don't rule me.
M. Laitman: Only fear. There's nothing else. Fear can be fear of losing the goal, and ultimately the question — what's the meaning of our lives? That compels us to activate the mind more than the emotion. What is the meaning of our lives? When I see through my emotions that I have nothing, and that I'm attaining no pleasures and nothing at all, so I turn to the mind, to the intellect, in order to reach a good state. These are simple things.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (53:18) I can define lines, right, left, but if it's not felt...
M. Laitman: The right and left lines, this is a very... What is the word for it?
Student: Conditional?
M. Laitman: It's something very relative. Relative, perhaps, yes. That is, I don't know what right and left are in the spiritual sense. If there is in order to receive and in order to bestow, then in order to bestow is right and in order to receive is left, let us say. And even within that, there are many different characteristics. But in our state, below the barrier, right and left are at least as follows: that if I have this enlivenment, then even though it is certainly all Lo Lishma, it's enlivenment toward the Creator, and that's called the right line. Whereas enlivenment toward my body, and what it demands is called the left line.
Student: I myself define that I'm now in the right, I'm in the left, or is it...
M. Laitman: No, we still cannot engage with that and say, yes, I'm in the right line or I'm in the left line. No. What's most important for a person, what they need to do is, why do we become so tired? Why after an article, or especially after we discuss something, we feel squeezed? Because all of our work is in scrutiny, in this intellectual scrutiny, and that takes an enormous amount of energy. If it comes together with emotion, then all the more so. In one hour, a person does the kind of work that an ordinary person might do in a week.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (55:22) If what we do is to see a state and react to it, is there a connection between the catapult there, being thrown from one end to another? And is there a connection with that and the embryo who sees from one end to the other?
M. Laitman: An embryo that sees from one end to the other sees because it annuls itself. Then everything that passes through it, no matter what it is, it simply passes, and it remains in those states as they pass through it. A person upon whom these things pass from one extreme to another becomes included in them, absorbed by them, impressed by them. The embryo is not impressed by them. It has a screen. Even though it goes through these things, it goes through them without letting them control it. Whereas here, when we are tossed by the Kaf HaKela [the pouch of a slingshot], from one end to the other, from one extreme state to another, completely different state, we become included in that state. We drown in it, and each state rules over us. That's a tremendous difference.
Student: Is that not the posterior of the degree of the embryo?
M. Laitman: No, it's not the posterior side of the degree of an embryo. It's still far from that. It's simply showing to a person how weak he is.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (56:56) Here it's written that we need to look at the lacks, and rather only about the correction of the lacks, and if a desire comes that you can't correct, what to do?
M. Laitman: It's said that a desire I'm unable to correct, still a person must somehow reach a state where he does not use it, or he must remove it from whatever form of use he knows he is making of it. But he knows that it remains within him, and he must eventually reach a state where it becomes corrected. There must be critique. A person cannot correct anything. Where has anyone ever heard of such a thing, that someone can correct something. Our effort brings from above a change, a light, an illumination, the light that reforms, the light that corrects, and without the light, by force, I cannot correct anything. So then you might ask, what does it mean that I make a restriction? It's written, "one who restrains his desire even though he greatly longs for it." Is that not coercion?
So if I force myself, is that called coercion, or if others force me, is that called coercion? How am I supposed to reach a state where I force nothing upon myself except effort in the study, and to the extent that the light comes and corrects me, that will be my correction. Well, to the extent that the light has not yet come, there are still no corrections. Yes, this is what it means to truly be in spiritual development. Or if I cannot correct something, if the light has not yet corrected it, then regarding the other things that remain uncorrected, which I see are not in order, I nevertheless freeze them and do not use them. Is that spiritual development, or is that coercion? Right? Well, what do you think? Well? No answer? We don't know. It is said there is no coercion in spirituality. And even in corporeality, it's not from the side of Kedusha, not from the side of holiness. What does that mean?
If it is written on the board that one needs not to do such and such, and I take that and impose it upon myself, is that called coercion? Or if it's written on the board and I impose it upon someone else, is that called coercion? First of all, that is the question, right? If I tell myself, this is forbidden, and really forbid myself from it, holding myself under a certain tension so as not to use a certain quality or desire, is that coercion or not? Or should I reach a state where I use all my desires, whatever they might be. Meaning, I try to make an exertion, and then the light will come and correct me, and then I'll be fine. If it does not come, then I'll continue using them as I am. Is that not clear what I'm saying? Well then, so what do you guys think?
Student: If I do it to myself, it's not coercion. It's a choice.
M. Laitman: If it's on yourself, it's not coercion. We forgot.
Student: The light needs to come and correct these forms.
M. Laitman: The light needs to come and correct them, and it's forbidden to tell myself that this is forbidden.
Student: It's the outcome of the light.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: First of all, I think that there is no — coercion is unrelated to things which are prohibited, but it relates to something you have to do.
M. Laitman: Wait, wait, wait. I don't understand. You're adding. Are you asking whether coercion applies only to intentions or to actions? Is that what you're asking?
Student: No. You said that coercion is about forbidding oneself or someone else to do something, and I'm saying that coercion is about motivating myself or someone else to do something.
M. Laitman: So coercion is not in not doing, but in doing. What's the difference?
Student: It's a big difference. What does it mean to coerce?
M. Laitman: So both here and there, it's against my will. So you could say.
Student: Yes, but you have the desire for this, and you don't have the desire for that, so you need to bring it about artificially.
M. Laitman: Okay, right. There are certainly differences, but both are still against my will. So forbidden in thought and forbidden in action, so that there's a prohibition in thought is forbidden, but in action it's permitted, or the opposite?
Student: Forbidden in both.
M. Laitman: In both it's forbidden?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:02:32) It's forbidden for someone else in thought and action.
M. Laitman: One must not coerce someone else, whether in thought or in action, but regarding oneself, one is obligated?
Student: You bring yourself to someone for him to coerce you. You don't have the power yourself to do it.
M. Laitman: Let's take smoking. You don't smoke, so you don't know what it is. They tell me you must not smoke. The Ministry of Health decides so. What difference does it make? From that moment on, I take it as an order. Even if I explode, I don't smoke, right?
Student: No, this is again a prohibition, but if the Ministry of Health determined that you must smoke, then...
M. Laitman: So let's say, a doctor tells me that from now on I must eat only cabbage.
Student: Yes, is that coercion?
M. Laitman: That's coercion, but if I'm forbidden from eating sugar, that's not coercion. Well, I don't know. There is certainly a difference, but is one coercion and the other not coercion? Well, coercion is a foreign force, or a...
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:03:47) If a person forbids himself to do something or forces himself to do something, then it's not coercion because it came from his desire.
M. Laitman: If I desired it, then it's not coercion?
Student: Yes, you coerce yourself to get up at three in the morning, even when you don't want to, because you have a goal. So it's coercion. You do something.
M. Laitman: Meaning, if I coerce myself either to do something or not to do something, then although one desire might be acting in a certain way, another desire within me does not want to impose this upon myself. And if I do it to myself, that's not called coercion. That's something good. In other words, the question is, did I arrive at this decision myself, that I should do it or not to do it? Or did I take this stigma from the outside, this notion, this law from the outside? Maybe that is what determines whether it's coercion or not coercion. You understand?
Student: So, even if you follow the recommendations of the books or the group, ultimately you adopt that, because you fear, it's...
M. Laitman: Ah, so if I take it from the outside, I think it's correct, let's say, that it's worthwhile, then it's not coercion. Even though I do not want it, according to the calculation, I accept it. Does anyone say otherwise?
Student: I wanted to say that coercion relates only to the attitude that I have towards something. Let's say smoking. Given the recommendation, the doctor says that I shouldn't smoke. And I can't stop smoking, but my attitude towards cigarettes and smoking remains like that of a smoking person, a smoker. So, but in action, I don't smoke. This is not called coercion, because it didn't change my attitude. It didn't affect my attitude. And what is coercion? Coercion is when I'm forced, someone influences me.
M. Laitman: Meaning, coercion is when a foreign force is applied to me without my consent, right? And I need to carry out whatever I'm told without inner agreement. Okay. Why does that obligate me to act? Fear.
Student: Yes, fear.
M. Laitman: Fear. Meaning, in any case, it's fear. Either I adopted it because I'm afraid and therefore act, or I'm afraid of what? Afraid of suffering from it?
Student: I'm afraid of the suffering that this thing will bring.
M. Laitman: I'm afraid of suffering from the Creator. And because of that, I don't do many things. Is that coercion or not? Or is coercion only when I'm afraid of some person? Then maybe coercion is only a result of the fact that I'm still unable to attain There is None Else Besides Him. Well, yes. Well, you wanted to say something, didn't you?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:08:12) Every time I go against my desire or towards someone else, it's always coercion. Even if I understand that smoking is harmful, even if I decided to stop, I'm still going to suffer, because I'm forcing it upon myself. It's always coercion.
M. Laitman: So, you're saying this, I want to smoke, I know it's not good, but I have no choice, the body forces me, and I smoke.
Student: No, no, the opposite.
M. Laitman: What do you mean the opposite?
Student: I decided to stop smoking. I decided, and I stopped, but I'm suffering because I'm forcing this upon myself.
M. Laitman: I stop smoking, I suffer because I stopped, and I do not smoke, and that's called coercion. Fine, you're coercing the body, but you're coercing, yes?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:09:11) It's like someone else is doing the math, and I'm looking at the result, and the result forces me to do something else. That is, you said the body, so the body has some math, I don't know what his math is, but I know that I have to do what he says, and I don't know why.
M. Laitman: Even though I have to do it by force? It's a calculation.
Student: So it's a state where there's no coercion. It's not a calculation. It's not in my hands. In spirituality, we say we don't have such a thing.
M. Laitman: What does it mean? If someone calculates, and I don't know his calculation, but I have to do it?
Student: You have a calculation. It's not his calculation, but you're...
M. Laitman: It's always like that. We're talking about things that I am doing, not that they are done on me without my awareness.
Student: Yes, things I perform, and the calculation could be not in my hands, but it still comes within my calculation. It's like I see a person who's wiser than me, or the Creator who's greater than me. He knows what's best for me, so I make some kind of calculation. I don't accept it just like that. What the friend is saying is above reason, or I don't know what to say.
M. Laitman: Okay, we'll talk about it.
Reader: Now, friends, we're going to summarize what we took from the lesson, what we're going to implement in our Ten. We've got six minutes for that.
Reader: We'll move to the next part of the lesson, and before that, we'll sing a song together.
Song: (01:17:08)