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

World Kabbalah Convention 

"Connecting in the Ten, Adhering to the Creator"  Feb 19-21, 2026

Day 1:  February 19, 2026

Lesson 1: The Ten as a Requisite for Adhesion
Rabash. Article No. 28, 1986. A Congregation Is No Less than Ten

M. Laitman: (01:05) I'm very happy we are once again at a Congress, a big Congress, a special Congress, a new Congress. Today, we have with us new friends as well – a good, precious addition from several countries we've hardly had any from before – so, it's a great joy that we could get together. I'm greeting all of you who are here with us, as well as those who are with us overseas, in every form of connection. 

We learn from the Kabbalists who attained this whole path before us, the path to the revelation of the Creator, to the created being. The Creator is a desire to bestow, to give. We are a will to receive, and a small will to receive, we are incapable of much, only just to receive a little bit, just like little animals. So are we, and not more, that's why our feeling of reality, our sensation of reality is called, this lowest, pathetic, this world. And Kabbalists tell us that if we want to rise and attain where we really are, who we're dealing with, who's governing us, and who's trying to change our destiny. Then we need to come to the quality of bestowal. We are made of the quality of reception, and in the quality of reception, we cannot receive more than what we receive; and feel more than what we feel, and what we feel is called, this world. But if we feel a deficiency for the quality of bestowal, then we will also be able to increase next to it the quality of reception, and from these two deficiencies – to receive and to bestow – we will be able to discover a completely different reality, a higher reality called, the upper world. And this is the problem before us. And this is why Kabbalists say we must reveal a deficiency for bestowal, for giving, which we don't have to begin with. We don't understand what it is, we don't. What is the force of bestowal, the force of giving? Because everything I do is only out of my will to receive, which is my nature, and I'm in it, and besides that, I have nothing. 

How do we come to the quality of bestowal if we don't have, if we don't even understand what it is. Because everything I do, even if I give, and give, and give, and there are many people in the world who give, and even take pride in giving. They don't understand that it's not giving, it’s not giving, it's concealed reception. And as much as they give, it may be good for others in the meantime, but in truth, no one gets any benefit from it. And we can see it according to the world that as much as we may be generous, this also pertains to ecology, to all kinds of donations, to organizations, and let the animals live. There are so many such movements that are in favor of giving on all kinds of, on every level and way. But it's not giving, it is not giving, and that's why we see that the world doesn't get any benefit from it, and it will not. So, we must understand, as the wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us, that real giving, we can receive only from the upper force which is, that is, His nature. Even worse, from where would I, from where would I want the quality of bestowal? To have a deficiency to bestow, to give, a deficiency to do good to someone else, if I don't see subconsciously or consciously that it will benefit me. We are told that it's impossible; that I always think of my own benefit. And if it is worthwhile for me to give, to pay, to be good to someone, I do it. But it's always done only through a calculation that I get a good benefit, a good profit after giving, and by which I receive. In other words, we don't have the quality of bestowal to begin with, nor can we have it. It is only reception that is either revealed or concealed, overt or covert. 

M. Laitman: (07:59) And every moment, we only yearn to receive but Kabbalists say that if we sit together, study, and by studying, we will get a certain impression from what the teaching tells us, and we will also be impressed by each other as much as we perhaps are changing. As much as we hear that it is in our interest, it is good for us to reach the quality of bestowal or we will not succeed in anything, we leave this world as we entered it. Kabbalists say that if you, to the extent that you are impressed by the books and the authors – meaning from what you learn – from the group of friends, from everything there is. If you begin to think that it's worth it to have the quality of bestowal, maybe even not because I want it, but I see that others want it. Or even if they don't want it, they say it because they speak this way, I don't want to be out of the loop, so I want it too. It is how we're built, Envy, lust, and honor bring a person out from the world. So, it turns out that I begin to want the quality of bestowal, why? The friends want it, so I want it. What will you get out of it? I don't know but I want it because of pride and the quality of reception, it requires that I will want to acquire what they want. So, if I'm in that state I get only one thing to do, I can do all kinds of things, but in the end, what do I give up? And I may give up after many years, doing all kinds of things to attain the quality of bestowal because by this, I'm told I can see the upper world, the eternal world, great things in nature. I can see the next world, great forces in nature, I can go out to a degree where there's no life or death, above time, movement, and place. Okay, I want it, what do I do? 

And then what happens is that I have to turn to the Creator. My friends don't have the quality of bestowal, no one can give it to me, even show me anything. Only one thing is possible, to turn to the Creator and receive from Him. But when I turn to the Creator and tell Him, Give me the quality of bestowal, I want it, I'm not getting it, why? To whom am I giving that He will give me the quality of bestowal? To Him, in return. So, it turns out, to begin with, that I'm not asking for the quality of bestowal but I'm asking for an opportunity to give to the Creator. And giving to the Creator, you know, anything you give to a great one, to the superior, you feel that it's worth your while, that it benefits you; and then it's like reception. 

In other words, we cannot learn about the quality of bestowal unless with the friends, and not directly to the Creator. It is also written this way, From bestowal upon the friends, to bestowal upon the Creator, From the love of people to the love of God. So, I need to turn to the Creator to help me bestow upon the friends. If we unite this way between us and begin to ask of the Creator to help us bestow upon each other – I want to bestow upon others and they want to bestow upon me – if we truly think, yearn, want this way to create among us such relationships, then it happens. And then we get from the Creator the power of bestowal. Precisely, if I want to bestow upon the friends, and I ask the Creator, then I reach a state where the Creator answers me, that's the state we have to reach.

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Reader: Good morning, friends! It's exciting, all of us together, entering, gathering around the whole world, we are sitting, really, in the palace of the King! And it doesn't matter where we are, whether we're physically here, in other gatherings, or whether they're virtual. We really want to feel how we're in our heart, we are all there in one place. And we will open with an excerpt, we want the words, these letters, to wash us, and to direct us in this first lesson. That the Creator will really become revealed between us now. Excerpt Number One. 

Reading: (14:43) 1. RABASH, Article No. 28 (1986), “A Congregation Is No Less than Ten”

It is written in The Zohar, Nasso (item 105): “Rabbi Elazar started, “Why have I come and there is no man?” How beloved are Israel by the Creator, for wherever they are, the Creator is among them? 

Reader: How beloved are Israel by the Creator, for wherever they are, the Creator is among them? How beloved are we, friends, Bnei Baruch, how beloved are we? That wherever we are, the Creator is between us. The Creator is between us, here and now, and we want to give Him a place. We want to use now these articles that Rabash wrote to us. We want to use all the means that we have, we want to listen to our Rav in order to give Him a place, that He is here between us and that everything we do is to give Him a place. To soften our hearts and to free a place. We will begin our lesson with reading in the Tens of a shortened version of the article, A Congregation is No Less Than Ten, by Rabash. You can find that shortened version in the study material of the convention. You can go to the link of the first lesson and it's there as Excerpt Number Two. And Excerpt Number Two is actually a shortened version of the article. We'll read this shortened version of the article in the Tens and then we will continue. Please.

Reader: "A Congregation is No Less Than Ten."

Reading: (17:26) 2. RABASH, Article No. 28 (1986), “A Congregation Is No Less than Ten”

It is written in The Zohar, Nasso (item 105): “Rabbi Elazar started, ‘Why have I come and there is no man?’ How beloved are Israel by the Creator, for wherever they are, the Creator is among them. ‘And let them make Me a Temple and I will dwell among them.’ Every synagogue in the world is called a ‘Temple.’ ‘And I will dwell among them,’ since the Shechina [Divinity] comes to the synagogue first. Happy is he who is among those first ones in the synagogue, since by them what is completed is completed, meaning the congregation, which is no less than ten. Also, the ten must be in the synagogue at once, and not come one at a time, since all ten are as organs of one body, in which the Shechina resides, for the Creator has made man at once, and established all his organs together, as it is written, ‘He has made you and established you.’”

We should discern in the above words:

1) Why does he say, “Wherever Israel are, the Creator is among them”? This implies that there is no need for a special place. Afterwards he says, “And let them make Me a Temple and I will dwell among them,” meaning specifically in the synagogue.

2) The words, “And let them make Me a Temple and I will dwell among them,” imply that first there must be some preparation, meaning “making the Temple,” and then “I will dwell,” and not just like that.

3) What is the question that he asks, “Why have I come and there is no man?” If you say that the Shechina comes to the synagogue first, of course there is still no one there.

4) It is difficult to understand what he says, “The ten must be in the synagogue at once, and not come one at a time.” Can it be said that all those who come to the synagogue should wait outside until ten men have gathered, and then they will all enter at once? We have never seen such a thing. So what does it mean that they must not come one at a time?

[..]

By this we will understand what we asked about the holy Zohar’s saying that wherever they are, the Creator is among them, which implies that there is no need for a special place. Afterwards it says as it is written, “And let them make Me a Temple and I will dwell among them,” meaning precisely in a Temple, and not just anywhere.

We should interpret his saying “wherever they are” to mean wherever “they,” meaning Yashar-El, are present, where the meaning of Yashar-El is straight to the Creator, who are in equivalence of form with the Creator. That is, as the Creator gives mercy, they, too, want only to bestow upon the Creator. And since there is equivalence of form, to that extent the Tzimtzum is removed. Hence in this place there is the Shechina.

This is called, “And let them make Me a Temple,” as it is written, “You will be holy for I the Lord am holy.” It follows that “Israel” and “Let them make Me a Temple” are one thing. That is, saying, “And let them make Me a Temple” is preparation and great work to make the place, which is the desire, as Baal HaSulam said, that in spirituality, “place” means desire, meaning a desire of Kedusha, which is in order to bestow contentment upon the Creator. This is called “Israel,” Yashar-El.

Now we will explain the second question, what is the question that he asks, “Why have I come and there is no man?” Certainly, if he says that the Shechina comes to the synagogue first, of course there is still no one there, so why does he say, “Why have I come and there is no man”?

However, first we need to understand what “man” means. We should interpret “man” to mean as it is written, “Happy is the man who did not walk in the counsel of the wicked.” That is, there is “man” and there is “beast.” “Beast” means one who is immersed in self-love and does what beasts do. It follows that the meaning of “Why have I come” means that I have come before you. However, that, too, needs explanation: How can we say that the Creator came to the synagogue first, if “The whole earth is full of His glory?” Thus, what does it mean that the Creator comes to the synagogue before the people who are praying?

We should interpret that it is as Baal HaSulam interpreted the verse, “Before they call, I will answer.” It means that when a person goes to pray, it happens because I have given him a thought and desire to come to the synagogue to be a man. In the end, I find him in the synagogue praying for self-love, like a beast. It follows that when he says, “Why have I come,” it means “Why have I given him a desire to go to the synagogue, so he will pray for matters of Kedusha, which is a Temple, and to be Israel, and in the end “there is no man.” Instead, I see that everyone is praying for beastly needs.

Now we will explain what we asked about his saying that there must be ten in the synagogue at once, and not come one at a time. We asked, “Should they all wait outside until ten men have gathered, and then they will all enter together? Have we ever seen such a thing?” He brings evidence from the Creator, “For man, the Creator has made him at once.” But we should also understand the evidence itself.

To interpret this we must first understand why we need specifically ten men present in the synagogue, or the Shechina will not be able to be there. He gives a reason, that “a congregation is no less than ten.” We should also understand this—why specifically ten and not more or less. That is, if there are nine men there, it is not regarded as a congregation, and if there are eleven, it does not add anything, as it is said about testimony: “two as one hundred and one hundred as two” (Shavuot, p 42). Rather, it is specifically ten, as our sages said (Sanhedrin, 39), “In every ten there is Shechina.”

It is known that Malchut is called “tenth.” It is also known that the receiving Kli is also called “the Sefira Malchut,” who is the tenth Sefira, receiving the upper abundance. She is called “will to receive,” and all the creatures extend only from her. For this reason, a congregation is no less than ten, since all the corporeal branches extend from the upper roots. Therefore, according to the rule, “There is no light that does not have ten Sefirot,” in corporeality, something is not considered a congregation that can be regarded as important unless there are ten men there, such as the upper degrees.

Now we can understand the meaning of ten, when the Creator asks, “Why have I come and there is no man?” It pertains to “man” and not to “beast,” referring to the kingdom of heaven, which is the tenth Sefira, meaning we must pray for the exile of the Shechina, which the holy Zohar calls, “Shechina in the dust.” Thus, the meaning will be that if the Creator does not find ten there, it means that “I have come first and have given you a desire and awakening to come to the synagogue, to ask for prayer for the exile of the Shechina, who is called ‘ten,’ which is the tenth Sefira, and I did not find anyone to pray for the tenth. Instead, I find everyone praying for things that pertain to beasts and not to people.”

Similarly, we should interpret what he says, “They must all be at once, and not one at a time.” We should interpret that we need the reception of the kingdom of heaven to be at once, and not to say, “Today I want to take upon myself a little bit of the burden of the kingdom of heaven, meaning only when I am at the synagogue. Afterwards, when I go home, I want to enjoy self-love.”

That is, he says that he agrees to work in order to bestow some of the time, but not to give all his time only for the glory of heaven. Rather, when one takes upon oneself the burden of the kingdom of heaven he must ask the Creator to make it forever, and not only when he is at the synagogue. We can interpret that having to have ten present at the synagogue at once and not come one at a time means that he should not say, “Now I am assuming a little bit of the kingdom of heaven, and later some more.” Rather, each acceptance of the burden of the kingdom of heaven should be at once, meaning at once over his entire life, and not today some and tomorrow some more.

Therefore, if assuming the burden of the kingdom of heaven is over a complete thing, then although he later descends from his degree, since his acceptance was complete, called “ten at once,” where “at once” means over his entire life, many pennies join into a great amount, until he is rewarded with faith, which is the permanent kingdom of heaven.

This was not so while assuming the kingdom of heaven was only partial, meaning that he received the kingdom of heaven only for the time being and not permanently. It follows that this is incomplete, so how can he join them into the great amount until he is rewarded with permanent faith? Therefore, when one takes upon oneself the burden of the kingdom of heaven, he should see that it is a complete thing. This is why he says that they should be in the synagogue at once, meaning once and for all. That is, he wants the reception of the kingdom of heaven to be forever. 

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M. Laitman: (33:55) The Creator brings a person to the place of choice, as Baal HaSulam writes in Item Four of The Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot, he says, take it. The Creator brings His hand with good faith and says, take it. He brings him to the group. The group is called, a synagogue, the Beit Knesset, after its future state, when everyone will unite, and it will become like a home, a Bayit, a house of reception, a temple and Kedusha, holiness, bestowal, will be revealed there; so it is called, in the anticipation of that state. If a person, together with all his friends in the group, understands this, then they work to connect together according to the extent that each one is capable of incorporating with everyone else. Until a point of connection forms between them, which is the central point of the group, then that place is called, the place of the Beit Knesset, the House of the Assembly, the synagogue. Because there is this gathering, this Kinus of inclinations toward unity toward the Creator. This is on condition that each one prays for the others, for everyone, and all differences disappear, and they are absorbed into a single unity. And within that unity, even world, year, soul – if you remember what Baal HaSulam wrote in his letter, They, world, year, soul, disappear. That is, one rises above world, above year, and above time, just as time, emotion, and place, just as world, year, soul so, too, I disappear within the group. 

It means that I want to lose all my animalistic sensations there, my beastly sensations, and acquire a new sensation, a new intellect, a new spiritual perception. If I am ready for that and want it to be permanent, then we, together, are capable of building such a place in which the quality of mutual bestowal will appear, and within it we will feel the bestowing force that becomes revealed. And according to our intensity, we reveal the Creator; that is, we understand and feel this quality within our vessels. There is no light without a vessel, the vessel gives the light its entire depiction and expression. Therefore, A Congregation is No Less than Ten, meaning that there must both be a complete number and a complete connection. A full intention, a complete intention for the sake of the future to bestow, mutually from bestowal to the friends to bestowal to the Creator. And in detachment from what I have here, world, year, and soul, to the spiritual world, year, and soul. If that happens, and I'm ready to remain in such a state forever, not returning to animalistic existence, then this is considered advancing to equivalence of form with the quality of bestowal with the Creator. There are many more details in the text, but the main thing is to see where the place of choice is, what exactly my choice consists of. 

M. Laitman: (38:05) The choice is not to pray for myself but for others, to the extent that I can invest myself without limit, with all my strength, and completely disappear there. Of course, this is mutual work among all who participate in it, we've discussed this article and this topic a lot, that is our main realization. This topic, to this precise form, we can connect the whole of the wisdom of Kabbalah, because it all speaks about the place where the Creator becomes revealed, and it's our obligation to build that. The wisdom of Kabbalah is the revelation of the Creator to the created beings in this world. That is, in this state of the Beit Knesset, the synagogue, the house of the assembly, literally, where we gather and build this place for the Creator. Therefore, I came and there was no man, He comes first, He creates all the conditions, and then He gives us only one point that we can add. But that point that I build, it becomes the point of existence of the next world, the Kingdom of Heaven. When we wish to be included together in one Kinus, in one gathering, which is called Malchut, kingdom; and heaven, Shamayim, when we wish to connect it to heaven, to the degree of Bina, the degree of bestowal. We need to decide that we are all connected such that each one cares only about the others and forgets about himself. They disappear, he disappears, self-concern disappears; the corporeal nature disappears. And we exert to rise above it to the next degree, to the next degree, the spiritual nature. The next spiritual level where each one cares only about others, and thus, what he has is only a prayer of the many, where he raises only a prayer for the many – One who prays for his friend is answered first. He receives the force of bestowal, and through it, he continues to grow and add more and more. 

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Student: Okay, dear beloved friends, right this minute, we are beginning the real work, to work on an article of Rabash. We will delve into it, we will need it within the Ten. We will process it in the Ten. We will allow Rabash's desire, which is embedded in the article, to permeate our hearts so that that desire will process our hearts and give shape to our hearts, a real shape. Just imagine a picture, a more tangible than me in front of you, the microphone and the table. An image that Rabash, Baal HaSulam, and the Creator, Himself, are in. They are with us here and now and they have expectations. Now, we are going to bring them contentment. Let's do it!

WORKSHOP

Reading: (42:03) Excerpt 3.

It is written in The Zohar, Nasso (item 105): “Rabbi Elazar started, ‘Why have I come and there is no man?’ How beloved are Israel by the Creator, for wherever they are, the Creator is among them. ‘And let them make Me a Temple and I will dwell among them.’ Every synagogue in the world is called a ‘Temple.’ ‘And I will dwell among them,’ since the Shechina [Divinity] comes to the synagogue first. Happy is he who is among those first ones in the synagogue, since by them what is completed is completed, meaning the congregation, which is no less than ten. Also, the ten must be in the synagogue at once, and not come one at a time, since all ten are as organs of one body, in which the Shechina resides, for the Creator has made man at once, and established all his organs together, as it is written, ‘He has made you and established you.’”

Student: Pay attention, Rabash is asking several questions in the article

Reading: We should discern in the above words:

1) Why does he say, “Wherever Israel are, the Creator is among them”? This implies that there is no need for a special place. Afterwards he says, “And let them make Me a Temple and I will dwell among them,” meaning specifically in the synagogue.

2) The words, “And let them make Me a Temple and I will dwell among them,” imply that first there must be some preparation, meaning “making the Temple,” and then “I will dwell,” and not just like that.

3) What is the question that he asks, “Why have I come and there is no man?” If you say that the Shechina comes to the synagogue first, of course there is still no one there.

4) It is difficult to understand what he says, “The ten must be in the synagogue at once, and not come one at a time.” Can it be said that all those who come to the synagogue should wait outside until ten men have gathered, and then they will all enter at once? We have never seen such a thing. So what does it mean that they must not come one at a time? 

Student: Dear friends, we know that what's most important is that we will have the correct vessel, the correct deficiency. And these very unique questions that Rabash asks in the article are exactly the questions that are supposed to bring us to that same scrutiny in order for the depth and the internality of the article that it will be able to become revealed in us. Therefore, we want now to go deep on these questions, we want to feel what Rabash is directing us to. What deficiency, what vessel is he now building in us through these questions? Questions that very much direct us to the depth of the article. Therefore, friends, we are now going to have a discussion here together between us in the Ten. We're going to read these questions and we're going to contemplate them, go deep on them. We're going to try to feel them, we're going to try to answer them. The main thing is to feel Rabash's deficiency, how are we going to do that? I'll give you an example, our Ten will now give you an example of how we do that. For example, let's say question two or question one.

Reading: (46:55) Why does He say, wherever Israel are, the Creator is among them? This implies that there is no need for a special place. 

Afterwards, he says, 

And let them make Me a temple, and I will dwell among them, meaning specifically in the synagogue. 

WORKSHOP

Student: Dear friends, now that we have gotten the chance to examine deeply and incorporate with Rabash's questions, to see how through his questions, He creates a certain kind of confusion in order to direct us more internally, in order to feel this message that He wishes to pass on to us. So, let us read the excerpt that answers part of these questions. 

Reading: (55:57) Excerpt 4. 

By this we will understand what we asked about the holy Zohar’s saying that wherever they are, the Creator is among them, which implies that there is no need for a special place. Afterwards it says as it is written, “And let them make Me a Temple and I will dwell among them,” meaning precisely in a Temple, and not just anywhere.

We should interpret his saying “wherever they are” to mean wherever “they,” meaning Yashar-El, are present, where the meaning of Yashar-El is straight to the Creator, who are in equivalence of form with the Creator. That is, as the Creator gives mercy, they, too, want only to bestow upon the Creator. And since there is equivalence of form, to that extent the Tzimtzum is removed. Hence in this place there is the Shechina.

This is called, “And let them make Me a Temple,” as it is written, “You will be holy for I the Lord am holy.” It follows that “Israel” and “Let them make Me a Temple” are one thing. That is, saying, “And let them make Me a Temple” is preparation and great work to make the place, which is the desire, as Baal HaSulam said, that in spirituality, “place” means desire, meaning a desire of Kedusha, which is in order to bestow contentment upon the Creator. This is called “Israel,” Yashar-El. 

Student: Last excerpt, that a place in the spiritual is called desire. Meaning a desire of Kedusha, which is in order to bestow contentment upon the Creator. This is called Israel, meaning Yashar-El, straight to the Creator. Question number two, which we will now discuss together. We will read together the text again, and we will scrutinize what is that desire. We will try to build it between us, and we will try to feel it. So again, we will read the text again, excerpt number four. We will scrutinize what is that desire that Rabash is discussing, and we will try to build that desire between us, and we will try to feel it. Excerpt Number Four in the study material.

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Student: Now we are continuing. What does Rabash do every day in the lesson? What is the question, what is the answer? Now we're going into excerpt number five in the study material.

Reading: (01:06:44) Excerpt 5. 

Now we will explain the second question, what is the question that he asks, “Why have I come and there is no man?” Certainly, if he says that the Shechina comes to the synagogue first, of course there is still no one there, so why does he say, “Why have I come and there is no man”?

However, first we need to understand what “man” means. We should interpret “man” to mean as it is written, “Happy is the man who did not walk in the counsel of the wicked.” That is, there is “man” and there is “beast.” “Beast” means one who is immersed in self-love and does what beasts do. It follows that the meaning of “Why have I come” means that I have come before you. However, that, too, needs explanation: How can we say that the Creator came to the synagogue first, if “The whole earth is full of His glory?” Thus, what does it mean that the Creator comes to the synagogue before the people who are praying?

We should interpret that it is as Baal HaSulam interpreted the verse, “Before they call, I will answer.” It means that when a person goes to pray, it happens because I have given him a thought and desire to come to the synagogue to be a man. In the end, I find him in the synagogue praying for self-love, like a beast. It follows that when he says, “Why have I come,” it means “Why have I given him a desire to go to the synagogue, so he will pray for matters of Kedusha, which is a Temple, and to be Israel, and in the end “there is no man.” Instead, I see that everyone is praying for beastly needs. 

Student: Friends, we, PT2, will share with you a wonderful experience of the work on this article. Exactly like Rabash writes to us, how he brings us, the Ten and all of us, we hope now, everyone in this convention. Stage by stage, how do we, from the disputes, the questions, how can we bring this across, of how different we are in the perception of this article? How gradually, with this small exertion of ours the light does its work and enters us more internally, gives us an opportunity to give ourselves to each other, to feel each other, to become impressed from the deficiency of one another? We did a lot of exertion, and that exertion is simply gratitude to the Creator, in that He's given us this opportunity to come to this point and to go through this Rabash article, to feel it. And everything we want – and what we pray for you to do – is to give us the deficiency that we pass to you. To take it in your heart, look at the friends next to you, at the exertion they did on your right and on your left, the effort that they did to come here. Friends from all around the world who are at this moment, they are with us as one man with one heart, in the same place, in the same desire, in the same effort. It doesn't matter whether they understand or don't understand, we read the same article 20 times, and now we are learning it in the heart. And Rabash wrote that, Nothing is lacking, just to come and reveal the things that are in your friend's heart. 

We now pray for you to take what we have gathered, what your friends have taken, and what the world Kli is bringing you. To bring us to that same point that Rabash is guiding us to, from the entrance to the entrance of spirituality. But there is always some kind of little tale that's asking itself: what about my spirituality, what about me, how can I do it, what do I do with these efforts? And that's what Rabash tells us, he tells us what we need to go through at this Convention, and what we go through at every one of these moments. Therefore we're giving each and every one of you, quietly, silently, to go into your hearts, that's what we're going to do now, so that later we can go out to an attack, so that everyone can insert into their heart and look deeply, quietly, and to ask themselves, why did I come?

WORKSHOP

Student: What does the Creator expect from me, and how do I return it to Him? 

M. Laitman: Every moment our existence in this world, and in general in our existence, is an order to advance toward the goal. So every moment you have a choice of your own to also make the effort to advance toward the goal. If you don't use that moment, you missed it. Another moment, you missed another one. How not to miss it? 

Song: (01:16:11)

Reading: (01:17:11) Excerpt 6

Now we will explain what we asked about his saying that there must be ten in the synagogue at once, and not come one at a time. We asked, “Should they all wait outside until ten men have gathered, and then they will all enter together? Have we ever seen such a thing?” He brings evidence from the Creator, “For man, the Creator has made him at once.” But we should also understand the evidence itself.

To interpret this we must first understand why we need specifically ten men present in the synagogue, or the Shechina will not be able to be there. He gives a reason, that “a congregation is no less than ten.” We should also understand this—why specifically ten and not more or less. That is, if there are nine men there, it is not regarded as a congregation, and if there are eleven, it does not add anything, as it is said about testimony: “two as one hundred and one hundred as two” (Shavuot, p 42). Rather, it is specifically ten, as our sages said (Sanhedrin, 39), “In every ten there is Shechina.”

It is known that Malchut is called “tenth.” It is also known that the receiving Kli is also called “the Sefira Malchut,” who is the tenth Sefira, receiving the upper abundance. She is called “will to receive,” and all the creatures extend only from her. For this reason, a congregation is no less than ten, since all the corporeal branches extend from the upper roots. Therefore, according to the rule, “There is no light that does not have ten Sefirot,” in corporeality, something is not considered a congregation that can be regarded as important unless there are ten men there, such as the upper degrees.

Now we can understand the meaning of ten, when the Creator asks, “Why have I come and there is no man?” It pertains to “man” and not to “beast,” referring to the kingdom of heaven, which is the tenth Sefira, meaning we must pray for the exile of the Shechina, which the holy Zohar calls, “Shechina in the dust.” Thus, the meaning will be that if the Creator does not find ten there, it means that “I have come first and have given you a desire and awakening to come to the synagogue, to ask for prayer for the exile of the Shechina, who is called ‘ten,’ which is the tenth Sefira, and I did not find anyone to pray for the tenth. Instead, I find everyone praying for things that pertain to beasts and not to people.”

Similarly, we should interpret what he says, “They must all be at once, and not one at a time.” We should interpret that we need the reception of the kingdom of heaven to be at once, and not to say, “Today I want to take upon myself a little bit of the burden of the kingdom of heaven, meaning only when I am at the synagogue. Afterwards, when I go home, I want to enjoy self-love.”

That is, he says that he agrees to work in order to bestow some of the time, but not to give all his time only for the glory of heaven. Rather, when one takes upon oneself the burden of the kingdom of heaven he must ask the Creator to make it forever, and not only when he is at the synagogue. We can interpret that having to have ten present at the synagogue at once and not come one at a time means that he should not say, “Now I am assuming a little bit of the kingdom of heaven, and later some more.” Rather, each acceptance of the burden of the kingdom of heaven should be at once, meaning at once over his entire life, and not today some and tomorrow some more.

Therefore, if assuming the burden of the kingdom of heaven is over a complete thing, then although he later descends from his degree, since his acceptance was complete, called “ten at once,” where “at once” means over his entire life, many pennies join into a great amount, until he is rewarded with faith, which is the permanent kingdom of heaven. 

Student: We'll continue to Excerpt Number Seven. Rav tells us this: 

Reading: (01:23:25) What does it mean at once? It is impossible that they don't connect at once, because no one can connect correctly, completely, if the others are not connected. Very simple. It has to be mutual incorporation, because I cannot be at the center of the group if others don't help me, and they cannot be if I don't help them. This is why everyone reaches the center of the group at once, and then it is considered that they enter the house of assembly, the Temple, a house that gathers all of us together. Now you will hear what Rav tells us about incorporation. 

M. Laitman: (01:24:23) The method that we need to connect precisely through deficiencies is a very strange method, but it is true. By each one connecting themselves and connecting to others, we build a vessel and that vessel can contain within it everything that everyone likes. Then there will be this common feeling among us all as one, as one man with one heart, that we have everything, otherwise, we will always remain unconfident. The lack is not that we do not have light and that we do not have a place for the light to enter. As it is written, The upper light is in absolute rest. So, we only need vessels, the deficiency for it, yearning for it. This is something we need to acquire from each other, therefore, when we connect in Tens, most importantly for us, is to give others what we have and receive from others what we lack in such a way, through this incorporation, this mutual inclusion and mutual connection. We will reach a state where we will have a complete vessel, a complete desire. And all those fears, anxieties, and insecurities that were formed from the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, from the shattering of the vessel, they will all disappear. 

It is because each broken part cannot reach confidence, it cannot reach a state of truly living. It will ultimately have to die because it cannot finish its fulfillment while it's being disconnected from others; it cannot complete its fulfillment while it's being disconnected from others. We always remain in negative feelings from that in which we have some kind of vessel, but the fulfillments for that vessel are in others, and they feel the same way. Only if we connect together and together means that we have one body, like our body, the parts of which work in a correct connection, supplying everything to each of its parts, each functioning according to its place. The heart does not need the blood for, itself, it sends it to the entire body; the brain does not work for itself but for the whole body, the hands move to provide something for the body. Breathing and every part of the body operates for the sake of the whole body. No part needs what it produces for itself. Accordingly, we need to understand that the collective soul called, Adam, operates according to the same principle. This is what we learn, The Sefirot, the parts of the parts, all the parts of him, all the worlds together, they are called one man, one Adam. Who has a Rosh, inside, outside, the Rosh, interior, the end, and so on, and we are all engaged in mutual work within this structure. Therefore, we always need to aspire – whether in the Ten, which is the mini-model of the whole of reality, or beyond it – we always need to aspire to see a complete mechanism. How do we equalize ourselves such that each one will want to complement the other? Whatever is lacking at any given moment in the Ten, for it to be whole, I take that role upon myself and I do it.

Student: (01:29:33) So the Kabbalists, as well as Rabash, through this article, and Rav as well, direct us to only one thing: Just as now that we heard in the clip, incorporation, the complete vessel, one body, is one man, one organism. Now, we will perform a spiritual activity, we didn't want to call it an exercise, it's a spiritual activity. Even if we use a pen and a paper, each one will take for himself a note, a piece of paper with a pen, pencil, and we will want to write down everything we want for our friends into one body, one man. We'll take a pen and a paper and write names of all the friends in the Ten, and opposite each such name, we'll write a short sentence, what is the most important thing I want for this friend? What am I asking for this specific friend? 

So we'll have several such names that we are now writing down on a note in front of me, the name of each friend in the Ten, and opposite the name, a short sentence because we're only talking about things I'm really asking for him, the most important, the most precise. A sentence that says, what am I asking for that friend? We have four minutes for this, internal spiritual action that will be expressed in writing.

Student: Friends, have we completed that or you still want another minute? Okay, so you got another minute. 

Student: (01:36:44) Friends, let's look at all the names, everything we wrote, everything we asked for the friends, and let's try to understand, to feel, to find within us what is common to all the requests that are seemingly slightly different, right, between each friend? Is there something in common, something uniting, connecting, that can turn all these eight or ten requests into one? One sentence, one sentence that will contain everything but the gist of everything we wrote. One short sentence, which the Creator is certain to hear – and if we have some room left on the paper, write down that sentence that unites all of our requests for the friends into one request that will be aimed toward the whole Ten. Okay? Two minutes.

Student: (01:39:49) Okay. And now, we finally have one common prayer of each one toward the Ten, we really want to have one request. Now, each one will read their prayer, but with everything that they went through within, with all of the emotion, with all of the intention, with all of the desire that he has now acquired anew. And compose that together as his request toward the Creator through the Ten. Each one will read the sentence that they composed as one prayer for the whole Ten, and the whole Ten will become as an ear or the heart of the Creator, who is now going to hear. And how we're going to hear this sentence, so that's how the Creator will answer. Please, each one reads the sentence they composed, prayer for the Ten.

Song: (01:42:53)

M. Laitman: (01:48:46) We’ve come, we don’t have a more important topic than our connection. Precisely by connecting collect them that those parts, pieces of Adam HaRishon that became disconnected and were scattered And became removed from each other at the time of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, at the time of the shattering, we, with you, are very, very fortunate. That it is precisely we, as Kabbalists say, are living at the time of the Mashiach. A force that pulls us from the intention to receive from the ego that separates between us and disrupts us from seeing the actual reality, which is one. And we can actually return to the sensation of the actual reality, into connection between us, and in the connection between us, see the real, complete world, and not the ruined one, as it seems to us here, for the time being. This is what happened at the beginning of creation, everything comes through an explosion of the one vessel, one desire, into countless desires. And our goal is to collect those desires together again. 

Why do we need this, to collect? If they weren't broken, we wouldn't have to collect them. The thing is that we, as created beings, feel the states from their opposites – not each state in itself, but through the contrast, the difference between them. And therefore, we need, from the broken state, the bad state, from the spoiled, corrupted state, we need to recollect the correct, complete state. And then we will understand, through the differences on all kinds of levels and kinds, that there are, between the complete and the broken, the broken and the complete. We will understand the differences that there are in creation, and between them, we will be able to exist, between these two states. And then we will feel how fortunate we are, through the connection between us, to attain the One Unique and Unified force called, the Creator. 

And that force must be revealed in each and every one, before each and every one, and to everyone together because it is standing right before us. And then, to that extent, we exist under the governance of that force, eternally, completely. And when the whole picture becomes clear to us, the whole picture of reality, on the one hand, we must collect among us. But in order to come together, we must annul ourselves and be drawn to connection between us. So, here we have several actions, the first action is that I annul myself; the second action is that I, instead, feel the friend. The third action is that I want to change the feeling that I had of feeling myself into feeling the friend, and now I want to reveal him in this way. Basically, it's simple, we simply want connection. To the extent that we establish it, we bring all of creation back from the broken state to the complete state, to the whole state. And this is how we achieve correction, in the correction of creation, we feel the friend, all of us, as being as one man. And then, through point of contact, point of connection, we see the whole world that it is one. There are no people here who are in different bodies, there is no still, vegetative, animate here, and speaking, who are separate. But rather, we begin to see this system as one complete system. It is called, the system of HaVaYaH, and the one force that operates in it, which is the Creator, and all of us are included together in that system. This is what we must reveal in all our senses and this is actually the purpose of the society. Accordingly, we come to the complete connection between us, to each one feeling everyone. And likewise, each and everyone beginning to feel everyone as one, so we begin to feel the reality as one, which is called, the created being. And the force that operates in it, in this created being, called the Creator, and indeed, that force is revealed to us as the Creator, BoReh, Come and see. And then we reveal everything that is in the Creator. There is a Creator, and there is a created being, and they are connected and feel each other. That attainment is revealed to us outside of time, movement, and place, and we feel ourselves as being in a world above all the limitations, called, the world of Ein Sof.

Reader: From Zohar for All, portion 108. 

Reading: (01:58:09) 108. Zohar for All, Nasso, “Why Have I Come and There Is No Man?"

When the Shechina comes first and people have not come together as it should be, the Creator calls out, “Why have I come and there is no man?” There is no man, for the organs have not been established and the body, called “congregation,” has not been completed. When the body is not complete, there is no man, for the particular organs that have already come are also not completed.

When the body is completed below, when there are ten together, the upper Kedusha [holiness] comes and enters that body, and the lower one becomes exactly like the ten Sefirot of above. At that time, everyone must avoid speaking of mundane matters, since Israel are now in the wholeness of the upper one and are sanctified by the upper Kedusha. 

Student: Just before we sing, let's finish the first lesson at the Congress! How beloved are Israel by the Creator, for wherever they are, the Creator is with them!