Morning Lesson Transcription is made from simultaneous translation which leaves possibility for errors.
Morning Lesson November 4,2020
Parashat Noah - Selected Excerpts from the Sources, #7
Excerpt 7 Reader (00:01 - 1:39)
7. RABASH, Assorted Notes No. 343, "Gopher Wood"
The flood means “evil water.” When the “Who” question comes to a person, which is Pharaoh’s question, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?” and also the wicked one’s question, “What is this work for you?” The Mayim [water], which is the flood, is made of those two—the Mi [Who] and the Ma [What]. By this, the whole world that a person has in Kedusha [holiness] was obliterated.
The advice for this is to go into the ark, for the Teiva [ark] has the letters of Bait [home] (as it is written in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar]), since “home” means wisdom, as it is written, “In wisdom shall a house be built.” The opposite of “home” is an “ark,” which is Hassadim [mercies], which is faith above reason, as in “for he desires mercy.
55. R. Wherever we have a problem we can enter the ark which is the degree of Binah and immerse ourselves there and nothing belongs to us, nothing can harm us because the degree of the ark of Binah is like a baby or an embryo in his mother's womb, everything is protected, let's say is safe place. After we acquire the quality of Binah we can add on to them our will to receive to grow there, to gradually the ark becomes a house that also includes the light of Chochmah and in this way we grow up. First of all wherever we are, whenever we start any desire that is in a certain state the best and most secure thing is to enter the ark, with every flood that we go through in our lives, small or big we always have to enter the society that gives us the feeling of an ark which is the light of Chassidim, entirely to bestow and then nothing can harm you. Although it is a deluge on the outside and it is raining, we are safe in our room and we are in the upper one where in this way we can hide inside the forces of Binah, he watches After us.
56. S. (3:31) When we hide in the Ark in the force of Binah what does it mean that we add the desire?
R. We grow up, after that we grow up, we become bigger embryo and bigger still and our ark accordingly becomes bigger, we will learn about how this is happening and after that we have birth and then we continue to grow outside of Noah's Ark as it is written in Torah, the time of the ark was over and you'll come to a state where you come out of the ark and you begin to grow up and build a different life, we will learn about it, for the time being we're in the flood.
S. Meaning this is done while exiting the ark every time and again?
R. We developed during the time of the ark and then we leave it and we begin to connect ourselves also in Malchut to draw the light of Chochmah now, all those states of growth we will learn about later but right now we're in the flood. Now as humanity we need to enter the ark, the connection between us in a mutual force of bestowal is how we build the ark it protects us from every harm.
57. S. (5:34) Is the flood the only obligation for a group to enter the ark and how does a group enter the ark?
R. Without the flood humanity cannot enter the ark it doesn't feel a need only through blows and problems of the flood that the water is finishing man, it is a Gevurot that Binah, on one hand it is water on the other hand it is Gevurot and on the other hand there is no choice only to isolate ourselves from the flood. And this is only through connection we form the true quality of bestowal. Because the flood is not the true Binah, it is the Gevurah that is revealed in the Binah and we are doing the opposite form Binah is the force of connection, this is also how we speak of the ten, we want to save ourselves from this flood that is around us. To build the environment correctly and then you will feel that there is nothing that can harm you, no one or nothing and if God forbid things are happening, unpleasant states in the group that is a sign that you disrespect the building of the ark. You need to strengthen it again more because we need to go through the time of the flood until we reach a state that you can exit the ark, if all of the still, vegetative and animal in us if all of our egoistic desires we need to clothe ourselves, there we need to remain in a state of connection. Even though each one wants to eat the other up and doesn't know how to get along with the other the ark is such that it works on us in the form of bestowal.
S. Why does Rabash refer to the flood as evil water?
R. Because that is how it is written, evil water meaning Gevurot revealed in Binah, that is a definition of the flood that wants to destroy everything, to drown everything.
58. S. (9:10) We have the water and then we have the force of Pharaoh ....
R. No, Pharaoh, don't bring your philosophies here. In every place, every degree you have a force of reception and a force of bestowal in each and every Sephirah. In Binah the force of bestowal is revealed especially, but the force of reception is in there. Bina is the essence of Chochmah, a huge will to receive their how can Bina be a mother if she doesn't have all of these forces to give birth and do everything. Don't get locked on one quality just understand where it comes from. Binah Includes all of creation except all of creation appears in it and has within it typically the form of bestowal. If it is imbalanced than it is appears as a flood. Think about it we learned all of those things.
59. S. (10:29) What does it mean that humanity needs to enter the ark?
R. First of all humanity needs to come to a state where it cancels the ego and it wants to be a mutual connection with one another. That is the first correction, this is the meaning of building in ark, all the qualities of humanity, meeting all of the animals and the beasts whoever is there can all be together in such a relationship this is called an ark.
S. What is the current flood?
R. The flood are the water that contain the Gevurot, the evil force is revealed through the water it is not only the good Force, where is it coming from do you think?
S. ....
R. Right now humanity has to build an ark.
S. This ark what does it mean, it is self annulment?
R. We build from all of the desires our desires and our thoughts are qualities such a state where everyone wants to come closer to one another in a good and positive way, this is it we're willing to live together on the face of the Earth without eating one another.
S. The corona is the flood?
R. You can say that it awakens us to build an ark from our Earth.
S. If we build good relationships between us then?
R. Yes, it is a good relationships between us, it's not something that comes from the outside, the quality of Noah from that quality, we build such an attitude between us that surrounds us, embraces and protects us, called an ark and that is how we go through this stage called the flood. Or covid-19 or whatever you want to call it.
S. Building the ark in practice what does it mean?
R. The relationships between us protect us where each one relates to the other in a good way, it doesn't want to devour one another, we all enter into the same ark we all understand that we have to refrain from harming one another.
60. S. (13:44) Can you build the ark before the flood or does it come after that we first need to feel the crises?
R. The flood comes not all at once, there is and our warnings from the Creator and we need to start building as it is written in the Bible that you need to start building the ark. Iif we could understand well, how the Creator is relating to us we would have entered the good connection between us a long time ago, we would not even have to get to such blows like this pandemic or others. All of these blows will be more until we build our first correction, the relationship between us where we do not harm one another, Do no harm. If we don't understand that the force of Providence and governance will destroy all the business between us, it will drown many of us in the water of the flood and eventually those who wish to build the ark will remain and those who wish to remain in the ark will remain. Either you remain in the group or each of us don't harm the other.
S. Why does the text say that the home is different than the ark, that it is the opposite?
R. Because the ark works only according to the force of bestowal and a house is something that has already the force of Chochmah as well. A house you build in Chochmah and ark build in Binah.
61. S. (15:57) How do we harm one another?
R. Harm we don't even understand how we harm each other, but the fact that we're in constant competition, we reject one another we don't want to connect to one another correctly, we don't want to help one another, this is the meaning of that our ego is revealing itself. What is there to say.
S. What should we be careful not to do with the friends?
R. What not to do I'm not going to tell you, we're constantly talking about it, try to do as the other as you would like them to yourself and that is it.
Excerpt 8 Reader (17:00 - 19:08)
8. RABASH, Article No. 4 (1989), "What Is a Flood of Water in the Work?"
We must know what is “a flood of water” in the work. This flood was the saboteur who “obliterated every living thing.” It is known that when a person begins to work in the work of bestowal, the body complains, “What is this work for you?” “What point is there in it, that you do not want to work for your own benefit? since you must see that you will enjoy life, and bestowing means that you will not work for yourself. What benefit will you derive from working to delight the Creator by observing His Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], which He has commanded us through Moses? Will He reward you for your work, that you labor in Torah and Mitzvot?”
“To this, you tell me that you want to work without reward. How is it possible to understand such a thing as working for no reward? It makes no sense! Our inherent nature is a desire to receive delight and pleasure, and if we exert in something, it must be that we are receiving delight and pleasure in return for our efforts. Thus, it is against our nature!” This is called the “What” argument.
62. S. (19:10) He says that the flood that obliterates every living thing and before it was about a person in sanctity so what does the flood do?
R. The flood works especially on those people who are on the path of correction, all of humanity is actually entering it. Don't look at humanity why are they suffering what's happening to them, rather everyone should already be advancing towards the correction of their qualities according to the Creator. If they are not in it, if they're not moving at the right pace the upper Force works on them accordingly and arranges such states called a flood.
S. Why did he say it obliterates everything of what a person has in sanctity?
R. Of course because what do you have left? Everything you had before it's all erased you feel yourselves threatened by the upper force of nature, the Creator.
S. It sounds like it's the opposite, he leaves what he had in sanctity, not that he removes it?
R. He lives only to build the ark, nothing besides that and if he says that the ground is going to drop from beneath your feet that you will have no foundation you won't be able to exist, you won't be able to subsist on animal food spiritual food. You simply come from the upper Force which is good who does good, now you have the flood. Because you are opposite to the good who does good and then he drowns you.
S. Why are the animals saved in the ark and not human beings?
R. All the qualities of man have to enter the ark as well, we all enter the ark, it is called the still, vegetative, animal and speaking everyone enters into the ark and we must maintain ourselves there for a while like an embryo in his mother's womb until we grow in such a way that allows us to exist outside of the ark.
S. Why weren't people put into the ark because it was just animals other than Noah and his family?
R. It was enough Noah and his family symbolize the degree of man.
63. S. (22:11) The connection in the ark was coupling, everything came from couples?
R. The Creator created one corresponding to the other each quality has its opposite quality each has a right to exist that's why they all entered they are going to the forces of Binah and there to be protected from the waters of the flood, The difference of the waters of the flood and the ark and Binah, is that in the ark they want to receive nothing, they are inside Binah and protected, outside of the ark, all the forces of the evil water the forces of Binah, through which the forces of reception appear. There are a lot of such discernments there which sadly we're not able to get to.
64. S. (23:31) The global social team and we are very happy to announce that on 11 and 12 of December this year we will have a great World Congress so we're going to ask some questions regarding the Congress.
S. What is the need that you felt of being at a convention now?
R. I feel that we need to add more to the connection between us, just as we discussed it today that we need to absorb the upper force during the lesson and after the lesson to disseminate it outside of us that we will be such like a piston that we work that way is suck from the lesson and we pump it out to the world. So, I think that the World Congress is a development in the attitude that we can carry out. So, the 11 and 12 of December?
S. Yes, 11 and 12th of December the first candle of Hanukkah.
R. It is on the calendar.
65. S. () In what state do we need to enter and come out of the convention?
R. Same general direction is in the lesson, and every gathering that we have we simply want from the connection between us to draw more of the upper force in order to connect between us. From the connection between us to pass it in a huge blow to the whole world, that we feel the whole world needs it with each passing day. We are going to begin to feel how all of the old businesses that everyone thought that they could just wait for these stages of coronavirus to pass, we would see how they are starting to shut down and people will be more laid off. They will have no food to eat, how will we get along with it as the world is not ready for all of those things, like they gave out a few gifts during the beginning of the pandemic. Now we're entering a new state that will continue but it's not a temporary thing. So we have to explain to everyone the benefit that we can get from all of these states, to protect ourselves so we all have such a level of living that we can go through it in a good way and this is what we learned about in the ark that we have to build such a state where everyone will have room, no one is devouring the other, we all care about the others and we all build the ark, our entire planet of Earth is going to enter the state of the state of the ark during the flood, the flood will be there's nothing we can do with our ego. But we ourselves can behave in an opposite matter, building states between us that help us survive, if we all speak and think about it we will discover that life can be much better and safer. I think that should be the general process for the Congress, how can we build the new world in such a way that ensures room for everyone because until then more and more unbearable states will be revealed that it can erupt in such wars and we need to explain it in advance.
S. What do you feel about the process we should go through the Congress which will help us to select the topics of the lessons?
R. I think that, we had to Congress once where we build a ship how do we go through life in the correct way, I think this was only in a group it is probably worthwhile to see the videos from it, but I think that now we have to build an ark between us and feel what it means to be in an ark, how do I invite all of humanity into the ark according to their desire. We are ready to at least show them an example how the place of salvation should look like, let us think about it, there are people who can do this beautifully.
https://kabbalahmedia.info/lessons/cu/YMjSvnfW?language=en&mediaType=video