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

Daily Morning Lesson: July 2, 2025 

Part 1: Recorded lesson – Oct 13, 2021. Baal HaSulam, Shamati #19. What Is “The Creator Hates the Bodies,” in the Work?

Reader: Dear friends, in the first part of the lesson, we will study from a lesson by Rav Laitman from the date, October 13, 2021 about “Shamati” #19, ‘What Is "The Creator Hates the Bodies” in the Work?’ You can find it in the writings of Baal HaSulam. In Hebrew it’s page 523 and in the Sviva Tova or the Arvut with: Now we can interpret. So please.

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Reader: Hello, we are reading in the writings of Baal HaSulam, page 533 in Hebrew, called “Shamati”, Article 19, ‘What Is “The Creator Hates the Bodies,” in the Work?’ We are going to continue from “Now we can interpret what is brought in the Gemara.”

Reading: (01:40) Baal HaSulam, Shamati #19. What Is “The Creator Hates the Bodies,” in the Work? 

Now we can interpret what is brought in the Gemara (Hulin p 7): “Rabbi Pinhas Ben Yair was going to redeem the captive. He came across the river Ginai (the name of the river was Ginai). He said to Ginai, ‘Split your water and I will pass through you.’ It told him: ‘You are going to do your Maker’s will, and I am going to do my Maker’s will. You perhaps do, perhaps not do, while I certainly do.’”

He said that the meaning is that he told the river, meaning the will to receive, to let him through it and reach the degree of doing the will of the Creator, meaning to do everything in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker. The river, the will to receive, replied that since the Creator created it with this nature of wanting to receive delight and pleasure, it therefore does not want to change the nature in which the Creator created it.

Rabbi Pinhas Ben Yair waged war against it, meaning he wanted to invert it to a desire to bestow. This is regarded as waging war against the creation that the Creator created in nature, called “the will to receive,” which the Creator created, which is the whole of creation, called “existence from absence.”

We must know that during the work, when the will to receive comes to a person with its arguments, no arguments or rationalizations help with it. Though one thinks that they are just arguments, it will not help one defeat his evil.

Instead, as it is written, “Blunt its teeth.” This means to advance only by actions, and not by arguments. This is considered that one must add powers coercively. This is the meaning of what our sages said, “He is coerced until he says ‘I want.’” In other words, through persistence, habit becomes a second nature.

One must especially try to have a strong desire to obtain the desire to bestow and overcome the will to receive. A strong desire means that a strong desire is measured by the increment of the in-between rests and the arrests, meaning the time gaps between each overcoming.

Sometimes one receives a cessation in the middle, meaning a descent. This descent can be a cessation of a minute, an hour, a day, or a month. Afterward, he resumes the work of overcoming the will to receive and the attempts to achieve the desire to bestow. A strong desire means that the cessation does not take him a long time and he is immediately reawakened to the work.

It is like a person who wants to break a big rock. He takes a big hammer and hammers many times all day long, but they are weak. In other words, he does not hammer the rock with one swing but brings down the big hammer slowly. Afterward, he complains that this work of breaking the rock is not for him, that it must take a very strong man to be able to break this big rock. He says that he was not born with such great powers to be able to break the rock.

However, one who lifts this big hammer and strikes the rock with a big swing, not slowly but with a great effort, the rock immediately surrenders to him and breaks. This is the meaning of “like a strong hammer that shatters the rock.” 

M. Laitman: (07:34) That is, what does he say, and indeed, everyone stumbles across this on the path. Many times we are in that state where we do not put in sufficient effort, and outbreak, and attack. So that we don't constantly agree to fall again and again to our will to receive, but rather that we must make a leap here. That I know that I have before me a barrier, it is very difficult. If I'm going to argue with it, and there are all kinds of stories and depictions of these how Kabbalists argued with this barrier, with this will to receive that we have standing before us – this way, that way, to maybe go around with it some way, to get along with it, to leave it there for later. Or maybe to jump ahead of it. It's always head-to-head. There is a simple issue here, if we disagree with it, and we do want to emerge, then we do emerge, we come out. It says when we read in the stories of Egypt, because in the exodus of Egypt, Moses comes to Pharaoh and says, I want to be free from you, I want to be free. Give me all of the desires and intentions, all the actions, all my abilities so that I will be able to come out of your rule.

Then eventually he does come out, and he comes out to such an extent that suddenly he discovers that Pharaoh himself opens up for them the place to come out. He lets them go, and he leads them up to that exit from Egypt. That the will to receive was actually created in such a way that it has to oppose so that the person will have the opposing force of resistance, so that he will demand forces from the Creator. Connection with Him, help, and by this you will come closer to the Creator.; that is, the evil inclination is called help made against him. Against him because it operates seemingly against itself, it gives the person the ability to connect with the Creator in such a way that, otherwise, a person would never approach the Creator. Therefore, all of the objections that we have in us, and we feel that we are weak, that we're not capable of coming out of our egoistic desire. That we cannot do anything against it, it is all in all in order for us to need the force with which to come out more and more. To leap out of the will to receive to the will to bestow. The Creator is awaiting that, and He is helping us through all kinds of forms of resistance that He creates around us. In this way, we advance so as to build the force of bestowal instead of the force of reception.

Question (Moskow 7): (11:43) Baal HaSulam writes that we need a strong desire, measured by many ascents and descents at one time. And then continues that, if a person has a strong desire, he takes a hammer and with great power shatters the rock. How to make the correct calculation, here and now, so we will invest all the power and desire in one strike and not to stretch it over time because there are many rocks like that?

M. Laitman: It is true, however, it depends on the environment as much as a person organizes the environment; and specifically through that he gets closer to success because on his own, he will certainly have no strength. Rather, there has to be a big, strong environment which is solidified. And then everyone understands that they have no choice, and they have to make an attack like a strong, correct, good commando, that’s it. Here, we should try to make room for the common force between them, this is called, that they take a greater hammer. And then they are already capable of breaking the rock.

Question (Belarus): (13:31) About that strong desire, a strong desire means it changes by many cessations, entrances, and exits. What is that mechanism?

M. Laitman: The strong desire means that it is possible to take a big hammer that is a very strong group, which is cohesive, solidified, and to strike the rock strongly and break it. Whereas, taking a small hammer and knocking on the rock many times, well, then you get nothing, there are no results out of all your strikes. And therefore, we need to pay attention to the quantity and quality of our work, and what is it exactly? Where does it take place? The most important for us is to be solidified together against our one enemy, the will to receive. It works in everyone, although it's in different forms, sometimes opposite forms or something, but really it is the same ego of ours. We need to try to force it, to obligate it to depart from us by turning to the Creator and demanding.

Question (Africa): (15:22) In the article, it said in the excerpt that we have to follow the habit. What is the difference between routine and habit? Is there a difference between the two?

M. Laitman: No, there is no difference. Both routine and also habit, these are states where a person doesn't need to invest anything. This is already considered second nature, and therefore, being in these things, it's a sign that he is not advancing. He can stay in that until the end of his life.

Question (Kyiv): (16:23) What does it mean to shatter the rock?

M. Laitman: To smash the heart of stone, means to break it into such small pieces so that we will be able to invert it into in order to bestow. That's a later action that we will do.

Student: On what do I hit with the hammer?

M. Laitman: We need to break the partitions between the friends; if you start to connect between you more and more in spite of these partitions, you will feel that by that you are getting closer to the Creator. And you are discovering Him standing behind our wall, as it is called, behind those partitions.

Question (MAK 6): (17:20) The cessation, the break between two overcoming, how do we close that gap?

M. Laitman: Only through persistence in the study, in the group, in investing specifically in daily work. What helped me is that I used to write books and I was teaching people, that helps a lot. When you teach, then you are incorporated with foreign desires, then they shake you, they obligate you to think differently. It's very beneficial to try to disseminate. First of all, you are doing it as bestowal to the Creator, and secondly you are expanding the limit of the wisdom of Kabbalah. And also you learn how you can explain better to yourself and to others, and that forces you to advance and study. Dissemination helps a lot to that person who is disseminating.

Question (PT 31): (18:51) We say that the most important on our path is persistence, and from what I get here it's not enough, you also need decisiveness – until that decision, the game's not over. How persistence helps us approach this decision?

M. Laitman: Persistence first of all means you're serious that you're walking the path, and each time you're trying to put together the pieces, the broken pieces from the shattering of Adam HaRishon. Persistence educates you, it arranges you, you have to build the society, you have to build an education, a study system. Why? Because without that, you will not be able to advance, you have to build an environment, which is the group, the order of the studies, and the order of dissemination. All kinds of things. In order so the system you are building will first of all hold you. This is why these are important things, and without it, it is impossible.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (20:20) When you look back on those years that have passed in our work, what is the necessary habit, and what we may not be able to actually acquire?

M. Laitman: Persistence brings us to habit, and habit becomes second nature. There are many things that become a habit for us. Maybe it's a good habit, maybe it's a bad habit, I cannot say. However, we sort them and in this way we need to see to what extent those efforts of ours come and correct. Nevertheless, they correct our vessels more and more. Yes, and this is why a penny and a penny accumulate to a great amount. This is what happens for us.

Question (Kiev 3): (21:28) Please tell us, what does it mean that the will to receive says to a person, You will do the will of your Creator, and I will do the will of my Creator?

M. Laitman: These are the forces of work in a person. Usually just one force, the will to receive, but if a person starts to engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah, then the other force awakens in him. And here a person is already in a state where he is in between two forces. One time he wants to receive, another time he wants to bestow. One time he wants to be close to the Creator, another time he falls and he's close to his own egoistic nature, and so there are two forces.

Student: It turns out that there is a person that turns to the will to receive and says?

M. Laitman: Yes, we need to depict to ourselves that we exist not in the will to receive and not in the will to bestow, but seemingly we choose. What do we want to do, who is going to rule us? Or what we can maybe rule over, can we control as if it's through our choice we control, we gain control. So, this is how during the work, this is how a person makes these scrutinies. We have to do these scrutinies in order to know under which force you exist now. People on the street, well, they don't ask that because it's clear to them that they have a certain nature and according to that nature they operate, they are managed. In order to do good, actually to that force that is managing them, because they identify with that force. For them to do good to the desire that is operating them is considered to do good to themselves. 

Whereas, when we begin the spiritual work, following some time we begin to feel that it's not the same thing. That I want to do good, to whom? To my egoistic desire or to my altruistic desire, whom do I want to do good? And here I already start having this struggle inside of me, it takes a few years until a person starts to realize in between these two forces that he exists. And that one force is ruling him on top of the other, and this is how it is intermittently. One force, and then the other force, and the two of them eventually lead the person to the end of correction. This is how it's going to be until the end of correction, but it is good for a person to exist in between the two of them, and for him to know that the two of them are managing him. And how should he answer to that and work with them.

Question (Latin 6): (25:22) On one hand, there is no coercion in spirituality, and on the other hand, we need to obtain the point where he is coerced until he says I want it. What is this kind of coercion in the Ten?

M. Laitman: The coercion is that we elevate the importance of the will to bestow, connection between us, the importance of the study. We elevate that above all of the other ordinary obstructions that come to us from life.

Question (KabU 2): (26:31) Is it really the will to receive, is the will to receive really an enemy, or is it egoistic desire, the evil inclination applied to the will to receive that is really the enemy?

M. Laitman: I don't understand how you distinguish between the will to receive and the evil inclination. I cannot answer you until I will understand that. Usually, the will to receive is just a will to receive that exists in the whole of creation on the level of the still, vegetative, and animate. The whole of creation wants to exist, this is the force of life, the force that necessitates it, to hold itself and to try to be connected to life, to protect itself – that is the will to receive. Whereas, the evil inclination is if I want to rise above the will to receive to a desire which is in order to bestow, and in that I want to resemble the Creator. Then I begin to get closer to the other nature, and then I have a problem because then I am in collision with my will to receive. This is already the will to receive on the degree of Adam, not on the level of still, vegetative, and animate but rather on the degree of speaking. So, this is the difference between the ordinary will to receive and the will to receive that Kabbalists, those who want to get closer to the Creator, stumble against.

Student: Would that also be considered evil, that Kabbalist’s will to receive?

M. Laitman: Specifically, the will to receive that doesn't allow people to get closer to the Creator, it is called, the evil inclination. All of the other desires, they are not called, evil inclination. They do not hinder the person, maybe you can enjoy all kinds of things in life if it doesn't hinder you, obstruct you from getting closer to the Creator – then it's not called the evil inclination. This is why the evil inclination is only when a person determines that he wants to advance to in order to bestow, to connection with the Creator, and he discovers that there are forces that are hindering him. And then he resists.

Student: So, it boils down to intention, like always then, yes?

M. Laitman: Not only the intention, also in the action, maybe, but the difference is mostly in the intention, that is correct.

Question (PT 12): (30:30) Is it possible that a person is governed by the will to bestow and not the will to receive?

M. Laitman: Yes, yes. If he wants to associate himself with the force of Bina, then this is how he enters the governance of the will to bestow.

Question (Latin 2): (31:03) A person discovers on this path that persistence is something that's good to you, because you constantly get forces from the group. How can we change the directions so that I will give changes to the group, and I'll stop to receive for my own sake?

M. Laitman: Try to do it forcefully, what do you mean with your question? Try to do that forcefully.

Question (PT 19): (31:43) On the one hand, we learn, a penny and a penny, a great sum; and time of persistence takes its time. On the other hand, it feels like, as he writes, we have to center the strike, otherwise we will continue without doing any correction. What did you mean by that?

M. Laitman: I meant that we have to connect more together and realize that this strike has to be specifically on the partitions between us. That if we reach connection, then out of the connection, we obligate the Creator to help us.

Student: You said if we get up every morning to the lesson, the meal of the righteous, as it says, none of it will help unless we do an additional action on top of the morning lesson?

M. Laitman: I didn't understand.

Student: Meaning, I don’t have to simply show up for the morning lesson and have meals, but something in addition?

M. Laitman: The most important thing is connection, why do I care if it's in a lesson or there's no lesson, if it’s in a meal or not in a meal? What's important is the connection: Are we reaching it or not, are we bringing ourselves back to the mold, the template, of  Adam HaRishon or not? This is what success depends on.

Student: The morning lesson is not what will help us but the connection between us. When will we have that?

M. Laitman: How will you reach the knowledge of the connection, the eruption of the connection, if you won’t come to the lessons that awaken you at least for that day to some extent?

Student: Meaning, during the morning lesson, we do the connection?

M. Laitman: Of course.

Question (Tel Aviv 3): (33:51) Can you explain the basis for the attraction of the will to receive that holds a person? How does it attract us?

M. Laitman: The Creator makes it so. The Creator makes it so that the will to receive will confuse us, and pull us, and that's it.

Question (W Internet): (34:50) What is that hammer with which we can break the rock, the stone?

M. Laitman: That we are being in a group together, we reach a state where we want to break the partition between us, because the partition between us is actually what the Creator, Himself, is in it. If we break the partition, we discover Him, we have nothing else to do. Practically, if we break the partitions between us and we want to reach a state where our heart will be built out of all of the hearts in the form of a single heart. And the force of our mind, of our intellect will work only for us to build a single heart out of all of us. Then in such a way, we reach such a connection in which the Creator is revealed. The vessel of Adam HaRishon that becomes resurrected, it rises back to life.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (36:28) What is the meaning of advancing using actions and not arguments?

M. Laitman: Well, arguments, we have nothing to do with them. We need to try to build such a connection between us where we add and add an awakening, drawing together. Until, with that mutual inclination, every Ten will feel that it is becoming solidified in its center, that it is reaching something where we are all connected so that there will be this force in the Ten. This feeling that we are, as one man, that our bodies are not felt that we are in them. But rather that we feel ourselves as being in one heart. There are not quite words for it, but this is what we would like to happen.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (38:05) How can we ensure that we swing the hammer with the maximum power in the Ten and not each one is using his tiny hammer?

M. Laitman: This all depends on how much we work, how much we understand what needs to be done, we need to understand that. Connection is the desired goal that we wish to obtain. Because we need to restore the broken system called, the soul of Adam HaRishon, the broken soul of Adam HaRishon, we need to restore it to a state where it is whole once again. This is the meaning of coming to the end of correction. So, it's highly recommended that we will do it this way. 

How to do it, I don't know what to say, but we have to, we have to. We have to check our day, how did it go by, what are we planning for the next day? In that direction, the direction of connection. Although this connection, for the time being, between us can be a false connection, unreal, pretended. Together with that, we nevertheless play with it like children in order to reach a state where the reforming light works according to this game that we're playing in connection. And it establishes between us a true connection, we have to understand that we have no choice. Also humanity. Look at the states it's going through, all humanity, and how much more it will have to suffer before it understands that the solution is only in connection. Neither socialist or communist, we retreat again and advance again, humanity is going through advancing in waves. But what do we want to determine at the end of the day? An ever-growing connection, each time more and more; otherwise, we find ourselves retreating each time. Losing ground by going down to those states, down to a world war.