The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Morning Lesson: July 21, 2026
Reader: Dear friends, in the first part of the lesson, we will study a lesson by Rav from July 9, 2002. It is based on the article, "What Does It Mean that the Right Must Be Greater than the Left in the Work?" You can find the article in the writings of Rabash, page 1376, in the second volume in Hebrew. Let's read the article together in the Ten. We have 34 minutes for that. Let's start.
Reading: (00:39) What Does It Mean that the Right Must Be Greater than the Left, in the Work?
Article No. 39, 1991
The Zohar writes (Nasso, Item 174), “This Mitzva [commandment/good deed], that the priest should bless the people each day by pointing out the fingers, since the fingers imply the upper one, the five on the right are more important than those on the left, since the right is more important than the left. Therefore, in the blessing that the priest blesses the people, the right should be raised higher than the left.”
We should understand what is “right” in the work, what is “left” in the work, and why the right is more important than the left.
It is known that in the order of man’s work, when he wants to achieve Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, which is equivalence of form, meaning to do everything in order to bestow, we should make two discernments: 1) a state of wholeness, where everything he thinks and does has no deficiency, 2) a state of deficiencies, where everything he thinks and does is full of deficiencies.
We need both of those states. The state of wholeness is in order to receive vitality, joy, and pleasure from his states. When a person feels deficiencies in everything he does, he has nothing to live on, since man was created with a nature that he must receive pleasure as long as he is alive. This stems from the purpose of creation, which is because of “His desire to do good to His creations.” (In the words of the ARI, this is called “Zivug [coupling] to sustain the worlds,” since without vitality the world will be cancelled. Hence, this matter is called “perpetual Zivug.”) This can be only if a person is content with little and is happy with the share that he has, and says that he does not deserve more than the rest of the people.
In the work, this is considered that he says that he is happy with this share, with the fact the Creator gave him a desire and craving to do something in Kedusha [holiness]. In other words, he is happy that he can observe Torah and Mitzvot [pl. of Mitzva] even without any understanding and without any intention. He says that he sees that there are many people who do not even have the little bit of engagement in Torah and work that he has. As in corporeality, a person who wants to be content with little should look at people who live happily although they do not make even half the income that he does. From this, he can be happy with his share in corporeality.
The same is true for spirituality. He is happy with his share when he sees that there are people who have no grip at all on Torah and Mitzvot, while he is happy that he has some grip on Torah and Mitzvot. From this he derives vitality, meaning he can glorify and praise the Creator for giving him some grip on Torah and Mitzvot. We must remember that the gratitude that a person gives to the Creator, at that time he is in a state of closeness to the Creator because the gratitude that one gives is for the present and the past. It follows that he can be in wholeness.
But when a person prays that He will fulfill his heart’s wishes, he should strengthen during the prayer with faith that the Creator hears the prayer of every mouth. Otherwise, his prayer cannot be from the bottom of the heart, since he must believe that the Creator hears every mouth. Baal HaSulam said that during the prayer, one should believe what is written, “For You hear the prayer of every mouth,” where “every mouth” means even a mouth that is unworthy, meaning full of deficiencies and devoid of merits, still, the Creator helps everyone, only if a person prays from the bottom of the heart, meaning believes above reason in what is written, that the Creator hears every mouth. Only then can one pray with all his heart, meaning without any doubts.
It follows that when one works in the manner of the “left,” meaning looks and sees that he is bare and destitute, and wants the Creator to satisfy his wishes, then it is difficult for a person to believe that the Creator will help him, and he needs great strengthening so he can pray with all his heart. For this reason, a person does not receive vitality from the prayer for deficiencies since he is living in doubt. That is, he sees that he prayed several times, and it is as though the Creator does not hear his prayer. Therefore, it is hard for him to derive vitality from prayer.
But in the manner of the right, when he walks on the path of wholeness and is happy with everything he does, from the privilege he has that the Creator lets him do something in Torah and Mitzvot, at that time it is forbidden to look at the deficiencies, since one takes vitality only from wholeness. Therefore, a person must make every effort to see that the Creator is complete with all the virtues and depict to himself every depiction in the world about how He leads the world in utter perfection. As Baal HaSulam said, one should believe above reason that the Creator leads the world in complete delight and pleasure, to a point that there is nothing to add to it. And although a person cannot see this before he achieves the desire to bestow, he should still believe that this is so.
It therefore follows that when one walks on the path of wholeness and thanks the Creator, he already knows if he thanks the Creator because he already has faith in the greatness of the Creator to some extent, and this is why he thanks the Creator, for the Creator summoning a lowly person like himself to serve Him, meaning observe His Mitzvot. In other words, he is able to observe something in Torah and Mitzvot because the Creator has given him a thought and desire to do something in Torah and Mitzvot, and this is considered that the Creator has summoned a person and told him, “I am giving you permission to enter the palace of Kedusha [holiness] to do some service for Me.”
It follows that a person has no doubt about the gratitude that one gives for the past and for the present. Otherwise, if he does not go completely above reason, he is powerless to thank the Creator. Conversely, a prayer is for the future. At that time, he does not know for sure that the Creator will help him, since he cannot say anything about the future.
It follows that although one should work in the manner of the right, as well as in the manner of the left, and we explained that “right” means wholeness, which should be perpetual, since only from wholeness can one derive vitality, but from wholeness, a person cannot engender a higher level because he has no deficiency. Thus, who says that he should go forward, which is considered that he should engender a higher degree (which is called in the words of the ARI, “a Zivug for begetting souls,” and this Zivug is not permanent but only during an ascent).
In other words, wholeness means that he engages in Hesed [mercy/grace], although it is an act without an intention, to him it is important and he is happy with his share, since from this a person receives vitality. (As said above, this is called “a Zivug to sustain the worlds,” which is Hassadim [mercies], in the manner of “For He desires mercy.” He does not need anything and he is happy with his share, and this is called “a perpetual Zivug.”)
However, in order to achieve a higher degree, which is called “a Zivug to beget souls,” since the meaning of engendering souls can come only from deficiencies and not from wholeness, this is as it is written in The Zohar, “He who comes to purify.” That is, when a person sees that he is impure, meaning he is lying under the governance of the will to receive, which is the Tuma’a [impurity] within man’s heart, and he does everything and cannot emerge from the control of the will to receive, at that time he prays to the Creator from the bottom of the heart to help him. Then what our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided,” comes true. And The Zohar asks, “With what?” And he replies, “With a holy soul.”
We therefore see that specifically from deficiencies we can beget a soul, meaning from a prayer from the bottom of the heart. By this we can interpret the words of the ARI, that the Zivug for engendering the souls is not perpetual but is specifically during an ascent. This means that when a person wants to ascend to a higher degree each time and achieve a higher soul, he must search in himself for a lack to fill. This is specifically when he demands help from the Creator, causing him the birth of new souls. In other words, specifically when he does not settle for less and feels his deficiency, it causes him to be given from above more of a soul until he obtains the NRNHY in his soul.
It follows that the way of the right, meaning wholeness, should be perpetual because a person must do everything with vitality, and from deficiencies, a person has no joy so as to derive vitality from being deficient. For this reason, the left, which is a lack, from which one does not derive vitality, since when a person sees that he is deficient, with what can he be happy? Hence, in general, a person should always be on the right line. Only some of the time he is used to dedicating to Torah and work, he should set a special time, when he is not in descent, but specifically when he is in ascent. At that time he will be sure that he will not fall into a state of sadness when he sees his deficiencies.
Rather, then he will be strengthened; he will be able to give a heartfelt prayer, meaning that the confidence that the Creator hears the prayer of every mouth will illuminate for him during the prayer. But during the rest of the hours of the work, he should walk only on the right path, since on the right path, he is always in wholeness with the Creator. Hence, at that time he receives from the Surrounding Light, as the ARI says, that the Surrounding Light shines from afar. That is, Baal HaSulam said that even when a person is still far from equivalence of form, meaning even when a person has still not been rewarded with the desire to bestow, the Surrounding Light still shines for him, and from this a person receives vitality and joy, whereas with the left, it is to the contrary.
According to the above, we should interpret what is written (Numbers 26:53-54), “Among these the land shall be divided for an inheritance. To the large you shall increase their inheritance, and to the small you shall diminish their inheritance.” The interpreters of the Torah ask, If it says, “To the large you shall increase their inheritance,” it is obvious that “to the small you shall diminish their inheritance,” so why the repetition concerning the small? We should interpret this in the work. In the work, it is known that we learn everything in one person. That is, “to the large you shall increase and to the small you shall diminish” applies to the same person.
We should therefore interpret “large” and “small.” “Large” means “whole” and “small” means “deficient.” As we learn, the right line is called “wholeness,” hence the right line is called “large,” as one says, “Any grip that I have on the work,” he believes that the Creator has given him the thought and desire to observe Torah and Mitzvot, and he says that he is not more important than the rest of the people. Rather, as before he began to work on the left line, he had vitality and pleasure in the work that he did, he knew that it was very important and he would certainly receive a great reward for this, so now that he has begun to walk on the left line, he should be in a state of humbleness, as it is written, “Be very, very humble.” In other words, even after he has begun to walk on the left line, to see his deficiencies, which the left line shows him, which he received from the state of “His heart was high in the ways of the Lord,” but now that he is working in the state of the right, when he should lower himself, this is a lot of work because they are called “two writings that deny one another,” and this was not so when he was walking on one line.
Yet, such are the ways of the Creator. A person should believe in the sages that such is the order of the work. It follows that there is a huge difference in the work between his work being in the right or being in one line. But according to what we learn, we need two lines. Both cannot be at the same time in the same subject. Rather, they can be one at a time.
Now the question will be that if we need two lines, and we must dedicate some time to the right, and some time to the left, the question is how much of one’s work should he dedicate to walking on the right line, and how much time should he dedicate to walking on the left line.
According to the above said, we should interpret what is written, “To the large you shall increase their inheritance.” “Large” means work that is called “wholeness” and “right line,” which is called “large,” meaning wholeness. “You shall increase their inheritance” means that you will increase the time you dedicate to the right line, giving much of your time of engagement in Torah and Mitzvot.
When it says “and to the small, you shall diminish their inheritance,” “to diminish” means to lessen, a deficiency called “left line,” where one begins to contemplate what he has gained when he left the one line and began the work of bestowal. He sees that not only did he not advance in the work, but he even regressed. That is, now he does not have the vitality and joy he had while walking on one line. Although he prays to the Creator to give him the power of the desire to bestow, he sees that he has prayed many prayers for this but he is not being noticed from above, so many times he wants to escape the campaign.
Although the work on the left line is important, for the birth of souls comes specifically from the left line, we must still believe in faith in the sages that we can engage in the left line precisely at a time of ascent, for then a person is strong and can overcome the left through prayer. But only for a little while, as it is written, “To the small you shall diminish their inheritance,” where “diminish” means that you will not dedicate to it much of your work time.
It follows that the word “small” has two meanings: 1) “small” as in “deficient,” such as when saying, this person has little income, 2) little time.
It follows that when it writes, “to the small you shall diminish,” and “diminish” means a lack. Diminishing in the work of bestowal and “diminish” is diminishing in time. Accordingly, we should interpret what it means that the right should be greater than the left in the work, and also what it means that The Zohar says that “when the priest blesses the people, he should raise the right higher than the left.” We should interpret that “right” indicates wholeness, which is Hesed. Hesed means that he does not need anything except to give. Therefore, when a person feels his lowliness and says that the Creator is doing Hesed with him by giving him some grip on Torah and work, he thanks the Creator for this.
Therefore, when we speak in the work about the priest who blesses the people, since all matters pertain to the same person, the “priest” is a servant of the Creator. He “blesses the people,” meaning the person himself, called “the people,” in the work. It is as our sages said (Sanhedrin 37), “Therefore, each one must say, ‘The world was created for me.’” For this reason, in the work we learn the whole world within one person. “He must raise the right higher than the left,” in order to know that the right is more important than the left, although from the left we are rewarded with the birth of new souls.
Yet, when a person engages in deficiencies, he cannot receive from this vitality. For this reason, he must work on the right, as well. The Zohar comes to tell us that we should dedicate the majority of our time to the right. This is why he says that “the priest must raise the right above the left,” since the right is more important. And in The Zohar (Pekudei, Item 683), he says, “The most important is that the left will not be greater than the right.” This is the meaning of what our sages said (Yevamot 63), “One of inferior degree receives a woman” (a person should descend from his degree in order to receive a wife).
There, he speaks in the manner of degrees in the upper worlds. As above, in the upper degrees, so it is below, in man’s work, even before one is rewarded with opening the eyes in the Torah. There the meaning of “left” is when the light of Hochma shines, which is in vessels of reception. Certainly, this should be in order to bestow, and he still did not receive the right, which is light of Hassadim. It is called “left” because everything where there is a deficiency is called “left.”
At that time, the path of correction is that the light of Hassadim, called “right,” should be greater than the light of Hochma. That is, the light of Hochma must not take more than half a degree, and the light of Hassadim, which is “right” which guards the light of Hochma so it stays in order to bestow, should be greater than the light of Hochma. At that time, the light of Hochma exists in the degree, and this is the meaning of the priest, when he blesses, should raise the right above the left, meaning that the Hesed should be more important than the left.
This is the meaning of what is written, “This is the meaning of ‘one who is of inferior degree receives a woman.’” It means that when a person comes to receive the light of Hochma, which is Malchut, where Malchut is called “bottom Hochma,” he should not take her in her state of Gadlut [greatness/adulthood]. Rather “inferior degree,” meaning when one comes to receive the light of Hochma, called “woman,” which is Malchut, one should try that she will already be in a state of descent, meaning that she has only half of what she had. At that time he can receive Hassadim, and the Hassadim will be more than the Hochma. Then the words “One of inferior degree receives a woman” will come true.
According to the above-said, we should interpret what is written (Sanhedrin 44b), “Rabbi Elazar said, ‘One should always precede prayer to trouble.’” We should interpret that one does not go into the work of the left before he first worked in the manner of the right, which is regarded as wholeness, meaning that he does not lack anything and he thanks and praises the Creator for giving him some grip on the work of the Creator, and then he begins the work of the left.
At that time, he sees that he is in trouble, that he has neither Torah nor work that is suitable for one who is serving the Creator. At that time, he feels how far he is from the work of the Creator, meaning from working for Him, namely working only with the aim to bestow contentment upon his Maker, and not at all for his own benefit. At that time, he sees how the body objects to this, and he does not see that he will ever be able to do anything only in order to bestow.
It follows that when he begins the path of the left, this is called “trouble,” and he has no other choice but to pray to the Creator to help him and give him the desire to bestow, called “second nature.” At that time, the prayer is from the bottom of the heart, and the Creator hears his prayer.
Accordingly, we should interpret what our sages said, “One should always precede prayer to trouble,” since it is possible that when he comes to work in the state of the left and sees the state of lowliness that he is in, he might fall into despair and want to escape the campaign. This is called “trouble,” and he must precede with a prayer, meaning first see if he will have the strength to pray when he is in a state of trouble. Otherwise, he must not begin the work of the left line. This is the meaning of what they said, that the “priest who blesses the people should raise the right higher than the left.” In other words, the right should be greater than the left. This means that he must wait for the right time to exit from the work of the right to the work of the left.
We must remember that the work of the right, which is called “wholeness,” is the work of the general public. It is work in practice, meaning he observes Torah and Mitzvot because of the commandment of the Creator and in order to receive reward in this world and in the next world. This is called “work in practice.” But the intention to bestow, which is called “the work of the left,” this he does not touch. Hence, a person feels wholeness during the work.
This work of wholeness is called “one line.” That same work of wholeness of the general public, when he begins to work with the intention, that same one line, meaning the practice of the general public, acquires a different name: Now it is called “right line.” Hence, it is now difficult to shift to work on the line of wholeness of the practice when it receives a new name, “right.”
Reader: Now we will go to a lesson from July 9, 2002.
M. Laitman: (34:31) Page 66, "What Is It that, “The Right Should Be Greater than the Left in the Work?" Why should the right be greater than the left? Seemingly, to have choice we need two equal sides then I have free choice, and I can choose. The right it means the qualities of the Creator, the left means the qualities of the created being, and I choose what is worthwhile, what is not. If the right is greater than the left, seemingly there is no choice, then of course always the right will triumph. Is that correct?
The thing is that we need the right for many… well, in general- the work in three lines is detailed for us into many styles, many cases. We have that before the barrier and after the barrier. There's work in VAK, there's work in GAR, in every degree. Accordingly, we enter Hassadim and Hochma, Katnut- infancy, and Gadlut- adulthood. There are many manners of work in the three lines. It is always three lines because we are working under the second restriction, the incorporation of the vessels of reception in the vessels of bestowal.
So the right line is usually the faith- the qualities of bestowal- the qualities of the Creator the first line delighted in mercy.
The left line is vessels of reception- the qualities of the created being. We also have the Klipot (the shells). Opposite that the desires that are not corrected, deficiencies, and we need to merge them in the right way. What does that mean?
Whatever is possible to correct and include the left in the right we make out of it the middle line. The middle line doesn't belong to anything that exists in nature. In nature we have the qualities of the Creator and the qualities of the created being, the only two. The third is in how the created being makes himself like the Creator- he makes out of himself the image of the Lord.
And it does not exist before the created being carries out his work and reaches establishing that. But, in order to do it we have to go from the beginning already equipped with the right line. The right line gives wholeness. A person cannot live in a deficiency, because, he to begin with, exists in his will to receive, and his will to receive must feel wholeness. Before the barrier, the wholeness is because he's going to obtain something good. Beyond the barrier- the wholeness comes on the right line; it's the feeling of delighted in mercy, obtaining, achieving that state of delighted in mercy.
Then, when he has this thing, he turns to the left- to his own vessels, and then he doesn't understand how can these two things coexist; wholeness, a whole, and something that is not whole in a single subject until he understands that whole, or complete, and incomplete, it's not in a single subject. In the person there are already two subjects. The person himself already includes the point in the heart, wherein the point in the heart the quality, the desires of the Creator exist. The qualities of the Creator there is wholeness and right, and the rest of the heart, besides the point in the heart it's the left, it's deficiencies. And then it is possible that within one subject in man, both these things exist, complete and incomplete.
M. Laitman: (38:45) But how to make the person be whole as we call it? Whole means singular, firm, so he doesn't have parts that undergo changes, or that contradict one another, as it says, "You shall be whole before the Lord your God." Tamim in Hebrew doesn't mean innocent, like a baby, but it means whole, complete. It's by making his deficiencies also work in wholeness. How?
This can be only if he takes the deficiencies in the right measure, in order to use them to advance. Without deficiency you cannot advance. The revelation of the deficiency has to be measured. How do you say that? Measured? Measured. It has to be measured, weighed. How much deficiency can be revealed to me so that through it I will advance rather than fall. And this is what happens to us. Let's say now we had some kind of wholeness, right? Not a good wholeness, actually. And we started to immerse ourselves in all kinds of things and be satisfied with our state. That's not good wholeness, it's not the wholeness of delighted in mercy. But nevertheless, we agreed with whatever we had.
Let's say it is wholeness below the barrier, that's also acceptable. And in order to advance, we needed some revelation of evil that will come again and again and again, in every state. This is what we have to do. And then we awaken the bad within us artificially, in order to see our state and build on it a higher degree, a better, more advanced state. New scrutinies, new ideas, new corrections. This is how it is.
This means that without a deficiency, when we awaken the deficiency, then we are like in a mess, in a mixture, in the feeling of discomfort and helplessness. But from those things, which are the left, later on we reach advancement on the right. Why? Because from the left, from the deficiency, bit by bit we begin to see how we can attach this deficiency to the right, so that through it we will reach the goal of being closer to the upper force.
Therefore, in spirituality even though wholeness means delighted in mercy and being in adhesion with the Creator, with the vessels of bestowal, and there it is truly wholeness on the right. We also break that wholeness and inject into it, bring into it the left, in order to later advance, to add the left to the right; what we call AHP of ascent, and advance through it. All the more so for us, where for us wholeness is not by the fact that we're in adhesion with the Creator, but our wholeness is because we descend to beastliness, we forget a little bit, we kind of lean on our existing- on our current state.
All the more so, to break this wholeness is a commandment. And so we need, in a controlled manner, to awaken deficiency in the groups in order to advance.
M. Laitman: (42:54) Also here he talked about the fact that we should always turn to the right, as we call it. That before we turn to the left — awakening the deficiencies, helplessness, confusion in the thoughts, in the emotions, in the discernments, and we don't quite know which way to go. Like a child who suddenly lost his mother in the middle of the street, the way he stands there and he cries and he has no idea which way to turn, what to do with himself; he comes to a stop and he doesn't know how to move anymore. So when we are in such a place, such a state, we need to enter such a state in a controlled manner. Let's first equip ourselves with the right, with wholeness, with the recognition of the goal.
Meaning not the recognition, but the knowing what is the goal, what we truly have to reach. And later on, according to the measure of our connection and the grip we have on the goal, then we awaken the trouble as he calls it, which means that our state is truly not good, it is the opposite of the goal, and we need to feel in it trouble. Trouble means to feel it as narrow pressure from being in a state which is incomplete and it's not in the goal, and then to feel, to reach with the feeling of the trouble scrutinizing it to a state where in the heart will be formed, right? Yes, will be formed a feeling which we call a prayer. This means a demand to reach the right that we had before, through this trouble, through the prayer. About the prayer itself, meaning the feeling in the heart, we are not masters of that. We cannot change it directly, but rather from the correction of the right, when I hold on to the goal, and from the revelation of the left in a controlled manner, so it won't burden me too much, but it will be equivalent to the right, in a correct manner. Then I awaken in my middle line a prayer, a deficiency, raising MAN, precisely on the middle line in such a way that it will cause the upper one to give me a correction and an ascent. This means this is already three lines in the work of the lower one towards the upper one.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (46:03) We say that a person needs to go from the right to the left. So why is it that from wholeness we come to a lack, as though this wholeness is not the right? Where are we coming from? You said that a person is in wholeness and then he needs to…
M. Laitman: I said it exactly like you said it. Why are you saying it's not good?
Student: We need to go from right to left.
M. Laitman: From the right to go to the left. What does it mean, from the right to go to the left? First we have to be tied to the final goal. What do I want to reach? To whom do I want to belong? How do I want to see myself at the end? At the end it could be after a thousand actions, or at the end it could be after one action, which advances me towards that final goal. One step forward, but nevertheless, I'm closer than where I am now. This is called the right. Holding on to the qualities of the Creator, His stature, His idea, His qualities, this is called right.
And with that, I'm permitted to turn and perform any act, whatever it is, any thought, whatever it is, anything. After I have a grip on the right. Otherwise, my action, my thought won't be purposeful. It will be just a beast inside this world. If I'm not directed towards the spiritual goal, then I'm actually looking down. My head is facing down, like a beast. You see? Like that. Looking down.
If I do not first take the goal, then whatever I do later is not important. It is already beastly. Even if I do very good deeds and I bestow to the whole world, but if it's not connected with the goal, no good result will emerge from that. Because ultimately, the general mechanism of the Creator's providence over our world will corrupt my action, even if it's the best possible one towards humanity it will bring more bad instead of good.
As much as the beastly action, meaning in order to receive without any connection to the Creator, will externally be similar and closer to the Creator, it will eventually cause more harm; because it will be exactly opposite the Creator's action, from the left line, from the side of the shell, and on a higher degree. If I just steal ten shekels, just like that I do all kinds of things like that, that doesn't matter if I'm going to bestow. And my goal is to reach bestowal towards humanity, that everyone will live, everyone will see it's good, and all kinds of bleeding hearts — let animals live, we have to take care of nature, all kinds of things. The green movement, whatever is there, there are all kinds of such things.
As much as I do not tie these seemingly good things to the Creator- but in order for it to be good for me in this world, they eventually cause more harm. Why? Because the deeds themselves, externally they're good, but in their source they're not good, so they're actually a shell, corresponding or opposite to the higher deeds of the Creator.
Which means, I'm not stealing ten shekels. That's a low degree. I'm going to do good things in the shell, right, without a goal. It's called a shell.
M. Laitman: (50:02) The entire difference between Kedusha- holiness, and the Klipa- shell, is the goal or not the goal. And then we see ten or twenty or thirty years later what we reach. Sometimes we don't understand why we got there. We wanted so much that it will be good, and the opposite happened. They're saying, we wanted it to be good. There's a saying, we wanted it to be good, and instead the unusual happened, right? There is a slogan like that.
There's a reason for it. This is why we have to always first turn to the right, hold on to the goal, and from the goal you come to every action, or thought, or planning. What does Baal HaSulam write about Russia? Also to begin with, a few people wanted it to be good, truly, and immediately it turned into bad, some dictatorship, something because it was as a shell, opposite something truly great.
In the same article about, "The Last Generation," he writes about Russian communism- that there is nothing worse from it, and almost in the same words where they told us it’s a lie, he describes the last generation. So what's the difference between them?
We want it to be good for ourselves, or we want it to be good because we're connected to the Creator. Bestowal to others — if it is just for the others, it's a shell; if it is in order to get closer to the Creator, it's Kedusha, holiness. So what is the difference between them? What do you begin from? From which intention do you begin the action?
And in externality, if you cannot tell the intentions of a person, you might be mistaken. So look what a world of falsehood we have. Why is it called false?
We make good deeds, but the intention is hidden. The intention is hidden from them as well as from others. And they think that just like the actions externally are good, the inner intention is also good. This is called the world of lie. And then by that, they cause disasters through deeds, through actions that are seemingly good. Go and explain to them that this is incorrect, it's not good, it's very bad what they do. It's even worse. Sit and do nothing would be better. Do you understand?
Now they want to distribute all the food to the world. What will happen? You'll see, there'll be even more hunger and greater troubles. And instead of some tree that fell into this world from above, you'll see how suddenly new illnesses, new diseases will appear that never existed before. So you'll fall to some other illness or something else. It can't be different, it can't be otherwise, because everything follows the intention. Everything is clarified through the thought. This is how it is.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (53:18) I'm not talking about what happened and what is happening outside, I'm talking about us. I take the book and I read an article, I begin to perform good deeds, the right line. So why do I enter this wholeness which is not right?
M. Laitman: I don't understand. Can anyone explain his question?
Student: Yes, he says, even though I start with the right intention, why do I then enter the lie?
M. Laitman: If you constantly hold on to the correct goal, you won't enter the lie. Why would you enter the lie? It could be that in the middle you enter all kinds of confusions and you don't understand, you're under concealment, right? You're not? I mean and your goal also is such that you don't clearly know where it is. This is called, the Creator, He is hidden, and the goal is hidden. He is also hidden, His stature, His essence; you don't know all the time precisely who He is, what He is.
And then see how every sentence you say can be a bit more twisted compared to before. It's not exactly suitable for the same path, not on the same line. This is a result of the concealment. So don't say, "What has happened to me?" It happens because our state, for the time being, is a state of concealment.
If you could see the goal and hold on to it to begin with, and he says, what do we need for that? We need Israel, the Creator, and the actions, which are called the ways, the manners of the Torah. And the act that I'm doing right now, it should all be in a single point. If you could truly hold on to it each and every moment, certainly you would not be mistaken.
How to do it? He says, you need to combine all three together. How can I do it if the Creator is concealed? As much as you depict Him in the clearest manner, who He is, what He is, His essence, His wholeness, knowing Him, it doesn't matter what it is. But if you hold on to that strongly, and also you reveal yourself as much as possible, and you want to join that point, and also the act itself of connection, then you're doing a correct action.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (56:01) I just want to underscore this point. Both engaging in animal rights and those things, and going to steal ten shekels, both are simple beastly engagements. There's no depth there.
M. Laitman: Of course. Also the deed where he's stealing ten shekels, or being concerned about animal rights, or people's rights, it doesn't matter, it's the same thing. The problem is that when he steals ten shekels, then his thought is revealed, and also his action- that they're bad, then it's just a small shell, right? It's not even a shell, because the shell is what is nicely covered. Why is it called a shell? The will to receive, which is covered with good deeds, with good externality, this is called a shell. You understand?
And why is the shell glittering? How does it draw the person? By giving him pleasure. And her pleasure is pleasure that she gets from Kedusha, from holiness. This means, why do we think about all these bleeding hearts, that all these people are good people? They show you how much they intend for the good, and inside, it's all a lie. It's the opposite, because it's not connected to the goal. They ultimately bring you to a false goal, and because it is false, then the action causes evil, causes harm.
Student: If so, the problem is not the lack of intention, because there's no intention either way. The problem is in the obfuscation of the matter.
M. Laitman: Of course, for us, it's all blurred. I'm not saying that intentionally they know it, and they know that they are on the shell. Beyond the barrier, we'll see, this is how it is. Beyond the barrier, we have such forces, this is how it works.
Student: I'm saying that in any case, there's no intention here. So, the problem is the obfuscation, the fact that it appears to be good, without connection to the Creator, and that appears as bad. But also, the good and bad are relative to the society. In a different society, if I steal ten shekels, then it's considered very good.
M. Laitman: No, no, there cannot be a human society where, if you steal ten shekels, it's good. This is not acceptable in any society. This is some exception. Even if you're Robin Hood, I don't know, and you're going to forcefully take from the rich and distribute to the poor; even that, no society will suffer that in an ordinary manner, accept it is something that is a correct order. That's it. We're not talking about the shells. There, stealing is something else. We will learn about that. But whatever is customary is acceptable in humanity. In humanity, it's customary too that a good attitude towards each other, that's holiness, that's good. We don't measure according to the goal, we measure according to the deed. And then the more the deed is closer to spirituality, to bestowal, we call it a good deed. But in truth, it causes more bad, more harm.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (59:45) So what kind of calculation by such a person could be right? He could now help someone or not help. It's as if you're saying that he obfuscates the issue, he causes more harm. He doesn't end up helping.
M. Laitman: There is what we call necessity. That humanity, until it provides each and everyone the necessity, we need to be in that without any intention, because what is necessary should not be praised or denounced. So we simply have to distribute to everyone, let's say, a thousand calories every day, and in that you don't need to make any intentions — let the beast live, that's it. But after you've distributed that, right, it's not upon you to give good to the person. Let him develop the way he is. How come you come to him and start inflating his ego, or to the opposite, the recognition of evil? You must not get involved in that, that's it. Just give him the possibility to develop, and don't start being concerned beyond that.
Now, as much as these funds and all these organizations take care of the necessity of the world, and there is necessity in that also, it's good. No one says it's not. But even that necessity should be, to begin with, directed towards adhesion with the Creator, which means that this is what we live for. And if it's not, then ultimately, in the long range, it will be revealed as bad and will not bring any benefit. As much as we have food in our world, it can be enough, not for seven, but for ten billion people, for sure. Once they thought that soon the world will starve, and it's not going to happen, that there will always be enough. The problem is the distribution. And we think that through just distribution all over the world — like they wanted to do it in Russia — seemingly, we'll get to something. We won't get to anything, it will be worse.
Student: What is the role of this in us, this distribution?
M. Laitman: No, we don't have to be concerned about it. We ourselves should not engage in it, we ourselves as a small group. But in principle, yes, if we're talking about the global work, then we should be in it. What does he write there in "The Last Generation"? But again, it's a problem to scrutinize it with just short words. Because look, on the one hand, what should we first be concerned about as a small group, right? Either now to go and bestow to the whole world and distribute to them as much as possible. If we will give what we have, nothing will happen, right? But seemingly to be concerned about that. Or, as he says, that the correction during the times of the sages of the Talmud is through the light, it comes and shines and reforms. And so our principles as a small group, which is leading, should be in that we bring lights. And we have to do it according to the rule of "Love your friend as yourself," we have to do also.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:03:42) So from this perspective, a person should come to the conclusion that he can accomplish nothing through all that distribution. And the only thing he can do is awaken the surrounding light.
M. Laitman: Yes. In actuality, all we have to be concerned about is that the surrounding light will awaken more and more in the whole of humanity,
Student: And it will affect these relationships, and not otherwise.
M. Laitman: A light to the nations, is what we call it. This is what he writes at the end of the "Introduction to the Book of Zohar." And also opposite to what he writes in "Matan Torah," in "The Peace," in “The Arvut,” in "The Giving of the Torah," and in "The Last Generation." That a person must go and bestow to the whole world until no one will need any necessary things in the world. So on the one hand, we have this. On the other hand, as it says at the end of the "Introduction to the Book of Zohar," we have to sit and study and bestow. Not to distribute food, but to distribute the wisdom of Kabbalah. So we shouldn't see these things as contradictory, opposite each other, but rather this is our work as an individual, or in the world of particular work; and the work of the public, the general work, should truly be like that. That is, if I teach ordinary people what they need to do, and they are not capable of studying, and through the study to bring the surrounding light. So by their mutual bestowal to the whole world, they will awaken the surrounding lights upon themselves. But I bring the general surrounding light. I, meaning those who can be in those ten percent, let's say, as he says there. He calls them the servants of the Lord at the end of the "Introduction to the Book of Zohar."
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:05:37) What is the connection between crossing the barrier and maintaining the vessels?
M. Laitman: A person who crosses the barrier, it is considered that he has the power to be under restriction on his vessels of reception, and bring them into action only according to how he can work with them above reason. What is above reason? To take upon himself the governance of the upper one with a whole heart. What?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:06:27) Doesn't it mean to change one's habits? It doesn't mean to change one's habits?
M. Laitman: Change the habits? Which habits should we change when we cross the barrier? I don't know. I like stretching my ears. I have a problem with my skin. Will that change? Well, what habits are you talking about?
Student: Your attitude towards people.
M. Laitman: The attitude towards people. It depends to whom. It depends to which people. Certainly, to people who are in the spiritual process, the attitude changes each and every time, as much as one understands and gets to know the spiritual process. So, beyond the barrier, truly there is an inversion in the recognition of the path and the goal, and then he treats differently people who are on the path. And towards other people, it's also different, but I don't know. I don't know what you are talking about, what kind of an attitude. Anything else?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:07:48) When a person is in the concealment, by what can he connect to the Creator? In what place? What kind of thoughts can I think?
M. Laitman: First of all, a person needs to know if he’s really in concealment. Meaning, he certainly needs to see somewhat that the Creator's providence is concealed. That what he’s receiving, he doesn't know how to decipher — why he received it this way, what it came for, what it demands of him. Whether he’s connected to this providence, to this action, to this intention, or he must say, if it's not for me, then who? And by that, does not know what will happen next. Or that he decides that every step and feeling that he has, the Creator is truly there, like a horse and its rider, walking together in one movement, and you can't distinguish between who's beginning and who is following. First and foremost, determine that you are truly in concealment, and not that it seems to you that you're already in revelation, and then if there's revelation, there's no work. And after we decide this, then from it we see the deficiency. What does this mean the deficiency? The extent to which I how shall we say it, how to skip over the concealment.
Because it's desirable to reveal the state, to reveal the Creator, and to unify with the providence, with Him. So if a person doesn't discover that he's in concealment first, then he has nothing to work with. When he reveals the concealment, then from that he can know what steps he can seemingly do, or he prays, meaning that the feeling itself of the state he's in brings him to this inner prayer.
The fact that you're asking, "What do I need to do in concealment?" That question means that you don't feel that you're in concealment. What concealment? You need to discover. Concealment or revelation we relate to providence, to providence. After you discover your true state each time, you no longer have a question of what I need to do. The state itself dictates what to do.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:10:58) There's always this question on the path: what is the issue of the right line and left line before the barrier? What is my choice here? Is there anything I can do, or choose to want this thing, that thing? What's being done with me is, it's as if the only choice I have is in the society, and what they influence me with, ultimately that is the choice I'll make. So, where are the right and left lines here at all?
M. Laitman: Where is there a right line and left line before the barrier? What can I tell you?
Student: How do I choose? How can I choose?
M. Laitman: I see sometimes I'm in a state where I truly lack nothing. The world is good, and there's an upper force, and there's a future, and thank God, it doesn't end with me being here. There's some more life and purpose. I have this feeling — maybe it only comes for a few moments, once a month, or every few months, or a year, but when I'm in it sometimes, then this state exists.
Relative to that, there are other feelings where I might be in most of the time, but nevertheless, not a hundred percent of the time, but let's say ninety-nine percent, which are opposite feelings. That there's no host to the world, this world has no purpose, and it's confused, and no one knows how to live here, and why altogether are we here, and I can't end with this, and altogether it's not worth thinking about this. But really, it's probably better not to be created than to be created. So you see that you're in these two contradicted states to one another. If so, then from these two states you can start working, you can start operating. Where is the choice?
Student: How do I choose?
M. Laitman: I would choose this way. I see that sometimes I'm immersed in a good state, where things are good for me, I can justify everything, I'm happy, and sometimes I'm in a bad state. What should I do? I should try to be in a good state, that's it. When I go and want to constantly be in a good state, I begin to discover gradually that this is for some reason impossible. My nature is made in such a way that it doesn't let me truly be happy, joyous. So I gradually go to discover why it is that way, why is the world so bad for me? Until I discover that no one brought me to Kabbalah, but rather the bad life, the bad feeling. The fact that I was searching how it would be good for me, until I came to a state where I can begin to understand that there's a purposeful thing here. This revelation of evil, to lead me to the real good, but to this real good I can come only in a very special way, on a very narrow path, and in a really not simple method.
But altogether, the search after the good is where I want to constantly be adhered to the good — let's say, to the right line. We call it the right line in us, not in spirituality. This leads me to the search. The left pushes a person to increase the right, until he begins to understand that there is a purpose in the blows, in the left. How did you get here? Maybe you can't check what you went through, but inside, within all of your actions, although you went distracted, not quite knowing what you're doing, but eventually, instinctively, you truly went to search after good. Now too, when you're sitting here, you're searching for good. If you already had it good, you wouldn't be sitting here. What for? Now at 4 a.m.?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:16:26) Now the good that I'm looking for is different.
M. Laitman: Each time your good changes, and that's because you're growing with the search. Why does this change? The evil is being revealed more and more each time, and it scrutinizes for you what the good should be. What is bad? There's no such thing as bad in the world. Bad is that you're being aimed more correctly to the good. This deviation that is being done for you right now, this guidance, this correction of your direction, this push that you're being given — that's what you feel as bad. No more than that. You're being revealed now that you're a thief, that you're cruel, and you're starting to feel bad.
So first of all, you don't want to feel that. Why are they showing me this? You're willing to kill this person who says such a thing to you. You say, correct. Inside you accept it as correct, but the fact that he revealed it to you, you're willing to kill him. That's first of all. Correct or not? Yes, the friend agrees. Who else? That's it. First of all, kill him. Yes? Because it brings you a bad feeling. But later, when you receive it in a purposeful way, you start kissing him. It's not simple that transition from this to that. But that's how it goes.
Meaning, without the revelation of evil, you wouldn't be able to be connected to the goal and advance.
Reader: We will share impressions from the lesson, and what we can take to implement in the Ten.
Reader: We'll move to the next part of the lesson. Before that, we'll sing a song.
Song: (01:24:24)