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

Daily Morning Lesson: November 19, 2025 

Part 2: Live broadcast with Rav: 

Baal HaSulam. Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot. #17

Reader: Shalom, we are reading in the writings of Baal HaSulam, in The Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot, Item 17.

Reading: (00:15) Baal HaSulam. Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot. #17

Hence, the student pledges, prior to the study, to strengthen himself in faith in the Creator and in His guidance in reward and punishment, as our sages said, “Your employer is liable to pay you the reward for your work.” One should aim one’s labor to be for the Mitzvot of the Torah, and in this way, he will be rewarded with enjoying the light in it, and his faith will strengthen and grow through the power in this light, as it is written, “It shall be health to your navel, and marrow to your bones” (Proverbs 3:8).

Then one can be certain that from Lo Lishma he will come to Lishma, in a way that even one who knows about himself that he has not been rewarded with faith still has hope through the practice of Torah, for if he sets his heart and mind to attain faith in the Creator through it, there is no greater Mitzva than this. It is as our sages said, “Habakkuk came and stressed only this: ‘A righteous shall live by his faith’” (Makkot 24).

Moreover, there is no other counsel but this, as it is written (Baba Batra, p 16a), “Raba said, ‘Job wished to rid the whole world of judgment. He said to Him, ‘Master of the world, You have created the righteous; You have created the wicked; who holds You down?’”

And RASHI interprets there: “You have created the righteous through the good inclination; You have created the wicked through the evil inclination. Hence, none are saved from Your hand, for who holds You down? Coerced are the sinners.” And what did the friends of Job reply? “Indeed, you revoke fear and impair prayer before God; the Creator created the evil inclination, He has created for it the Torah as a spice” (Job 15).

RASHI interprets there: “Created for it the Torah,” which is a spice that revokes “thoughts of transgression,” as it is said, “If you come across this villain, pull him to the seminary. If he is a stone, he will soften. Hence, not coerced are they, for they could save themselves” (Kidushin, p 30).

M. Laitman: Yes, this is basically what Rabash writes to us in Baal HaSulam's name. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (03:50) He writes here, I have to pledge before I start studying, I have to pledge in faith in the Creator. What is this pledge before I begin to study? 

M. Laitman: That you attain faith in the Creator, and then from this attainment, you open up what he recommends to you – Baal HaSulam – and you enter the depth of his words. 

Student: So, he writes here in the second paragraph, That even if he is not rewarded with faith, he has hope through the practice of Torah. We understand that through the practice of Torah, when we draw the light through our work in the Ten, we increase our faith in the Creator. But here, I'm repeating the question, how do I, before I come to the study, I come here at 2 to 10 in the morning, how do I bring myself with faith before I even draw the light? 

M. Laitman: You think that you have nothing more to be certain of besides the Creator, and He's given you this work and He holds the reward for your labor. And that's how you come to a state where you discover the truth.

Student: In the first part of the lesson, we heard that we have to be in devotion. Is this directive to come here with faith in the Creator every moment? Is this our devotion? 

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Turkiye 1): (06:22) How can a person dedicate his soul and exert labor and Torah and Mitzvot and commandments, all day? How can a person set in stone this faith in his heart? 

M. Laitman: If he does this from within the group of friends who wish to relate to the Creator in that way, so as to discover Him and draw closer to Him, then it is probably possible.

Question (Asia): (07:07) Can you explain the last line in the excerpt? 

Reader: (07:22) He writes there, “Rashi interprets there, created for it a Torah, which is a spice that provokes thoughts of transgression. As it is said, if you come across this villain, pull him to the seminary. If he is a stone, he will soften. Hands not coerced, are they? For they could save themselves”. 

M. Laitman: Yes. Well, that's basically logical, what he says here. So, what's the question? 

Student: Right, but what's not clear is that he says, through the understanding, the inclination softens. Is it really so? 

M. Laitman: Probably so, let's first come to understanding. Let's reach the understanding, first.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (08:27) It's written in the second paragraph, that if he sets his heart and mind to attain faith in the Creator through it, there is no greater commandment than this. 

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: What is the effort toward faith? What is faith in general?

M. Laitman: Faith is a force that a person receives according to his request from above, from the Creator. And that is sufficient for him to keep going from this moment on in order to do for the Creator what he needs.

Student: So, what should be the yearning? What is this force, what should I yearn for? 

M. Laitman: To yearn to reveal the Creator; you wish to feel how the Creator gives you all the conditions that you can organize properly. And thus, you achieve adhesion with Him.

Question (Florida): (10:04) What is the seminary for us?

M. Laitman: The group, the group, where a person grows himself, and how, where he develops. So, what you can call, the seminary.

Student: If a person is pulled to the seminary, then how is he not being coerced?

M. Laitman: This is probably something we go through as well, these states. 

Reader: He's asking how to do it, not by coercion, but by desire? 

M. Laitman: This is by great efforts where he grows stronger in faith in the Creator and in His providence of reward and punishment. And then, correspondingly, he'll have an opportunity to feel that he, through this remedy, he can be awarded with benefiting from the light that reforms. And that his faith will also grow by the remedy of this light; and then he comes to the goal. When we enter the scrutiny of these things on ourselves, we will better understand what are the questions here and what are the issues that come about. 

Question (W Turkiye 8): (13:05) In Item 17, there's an excerpt attributed to Job, and it says this: You have created the righteous with a good inclination, the wicked with an evil inclination. So, there's no one who's saved by you because who will hold you down? Coerced are the wicked. So, the question is, how does what Job asks, here, influence a person's evil inclination, that he chooses to explain the evil inclination? Maybe you can explain what it means?

M. Laitman: If we want to achieve connection with the Creator, and that is what is facing us as our goal. Then bit by bit, we draw the light that reforms, and then our faith also grows as a result. And thus, by the remedy of the light of Torah, we come to adhesion with the Creator. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (14:34) In the beginning of item 17, he writes, Hence, the student pledges, prior to the study, to strengthen himself in faith in the Creator. Does that mean that he should come to the study with faith he obtained before? Or should he develop a deficiency for faith and hope that through the study he will obtain the faith? 

M. Laitman: No, here it says, before he studies, to strengthen in the faith in the Creator. Meaning, that's his commitment, that I, as I begin to study, I wish for, through the study, to strengthen my faith. 

Student: So, he comes with a deficiency to grow stronger in faith.

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: So, what is the work he should do as preparation for the study? Because I understand that he doesn't come to the study, and ten minutes before it, he says, I'm getting stronger during the day. It must be something different?

M. Laitman: Yes, probably the first part of the study is to reveal the lack of faith and strengthen the faith. 

Student: So, what is the work in the Ten that we should reveal? 

M. Laitman: We'll learn, we'll see, I don't know, for now that's what's important. 

Student: And the second part of the sentence is also to strengthen yourself in reward and punishment. What does that mean? 

M. Laitman: To strengthen in reward and punishment, we haven't learned but it's what do I want as a reward, and what do I not want as punishment. And if in between them I direct myself, then I'm directing myself, correctly. 

Question (W Rehovot 1): (16:59) I heard you say that you want to feel how the Creator gives you all the conditions so you can arrange them, correctly, and this is how you reach correction. What are the conditions that we need? 

M. Laitman: We need to carry out what's written so far as much as possible, and then according to that, we will continue to see what are we still facing, what's ahead of us. 

Student: What is the difference between faith and confidence? What's the difference between faith in the Creator and to trust in the Creator? 

M. Laitman: The difference between faith and confidence, we'll learn, we'll discuss that more. That’s, it's true, that this is a question here. He says, And then his heart will be certain that from Lo Lishma, he'll come to Lishma. Meaning, he studies and he's certain that through this study, he comes closer to Lishma. 

Question (Moscow): (18:35) I apologize in advance for the question: Do you believe personally that it's possible to achieve adhesion? 

M. Laitman: If my teachers write about it, then I'm certain of it.

Student: Are there examples of people who attained it?

M. Laitman: But what would that give you if you can't see it? To understand it is not possible. 

Student: You want to feel it. 

M. Laitman: Yes, if you want to feel, then you have to work.

Student: But will we feel it when we achieve adhesion? 

M. Laitman: Of course. 

Question (Kyiv 1): (19:35) What does it mean for me to get stronger in faith in the Creator before the study? 

M. Laitman: He writes that if his heart is certain that he will come from Lo Lishma to Lishma. 

Student: How can I practically strengthen myself in this before the study? 

M. Laitman: That above all disturbances and all the confusions that awaken in you, in your heart, in your mind, you try to rise above all that and strengthen in the Creator.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (20:36) What is the right way to turn the thought to adhere to the root, to a real force in the connection between us? 

M. Laitman: Say it again.

Student: What is the right way to turn the thought to adhere to the root into a real force of connection between us? 

M. Laitman: The person who wants to reach the purpose of creation, connection with the Creator, and faith in the Creator. So, he has to raise himself to a higher degree than the root to the condition that from Lo Lishma he can come to Lishma. And this is what he is now facing, and he continues on that until he attains. 

Student: Baal HaSulam says that a person feels someone who moves from corporeal love to spiritual love. How do we translate that into daily actions between us throughout the day? 

M. Laitman: The person feels that he is always in doubts, and then he asks. How can he come from Lo Lishma to Lishma? And that's how he advances. And then his heart will be certain that from Lo Lishma he will come to Lishma.

Question (Almaty): (23:23) Thanks to you and thanks to the friends, I have faith. They make me stronger, they enforce me. I'm certain that we are drawing the reforming light, and in the future, it will be revealed to me even more. We work on this every day, and you help us in this. But there's a big question. Why are we not advancing, what are we doing wrong? Perhaps we're working too much in order to receive for ourselves. There is no spiritual charge that's accumulating.

M. Laitman: If you will give a true, correct answer to that, you will stop asking, you will stop longing for it. That is essentially what these lines are saying, that's it; therefore, he says that, There is no other advice, that the Creator who created the righteous and the wicked ones, He created an opportunity, a possibility for them to use both and check whether they are coerced, or do they have in their hands, in their strength, within their strength to go, as it's said, if this wicked hurts you, pull him to the seminary. Meaning, we have to do that. Every sentence here is very important, you can't reach the goal without it. 

Reader: Let's continue.

Reading: (25:54) Baal HaSulam. Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot. #18

Clearly, they cannot rid themselves of the judgment. If they say that they received that spice and still have thoughts of transgression, meaning that they are still in doubt and the evil inclination has not yet melted, for the Creator, Who created it and gave the evil inclination its strength, evidently knew to create the remedy and the spice liable to wear off the power of the evil inclination and eradicate it altogether.

And if one practices Torah and fails to remove the evil inclination from himself, it is either that he has been negligent in giving the necessary labor and exertion in the practice of Torah, as it is written, “I did not labor and found, do not believe,” or perhaps he did put in the necessary amount of labor, but has been negligent in the quality.

This means that while practicing Torah, they did not set their minds and hearts to draw the light in the Torah, which brings faith to one’s heart. Rather, they have been absent-minded about the principal requirement demanded of the Torah, namely the light that yields faith. And although they initially aimed for it, their minds went astray during the study.

Either way, one cannot rid oneself of the judgment by arguing coercion, for our sages strictly state, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created for it the Torah as a spice.” If there had been any exceptions in this, then Job’s question would remain valid. 

Question (Kyiv 3): (28:32) I have a question regarding a person having to aim his efforts for the commandments of the Torah so that he can enjoy the light in it. I'd like to ask, why a person who yearns to direct his labor to be for the commandment of the Torah, why, admitted by this, he will enjoy its light? 

M. Laitman: It's necessary in order for a person to be certain that the way that leads him to the revelation of the Creator is the way that reveals to him all the Torah. 

Student: Enjoying the light, meaning, a person wants to work simply for the sake of the Torah. And if there is another pleasure there, then it's a burden, no? Meaning, you're shown that you're working not for the pleasure, but you will get pleasure there. It always confuses me. 

M. Laitman: It's unclear, in other words, why do I nevertheless yearn for pleasures, satisfactions, or maybe some knowledge – some other purpose.

Student: If I simply yearn for the work itself to be the reward, why do I hear that I will have other pleasure in the end? 

M. Laitman: It's a result, that will be, that is the outcome. We'll talk about it.

Student: But it's not written that there's only pleasure in it, but we learn that there will be torments, hatred, you have to cover it with love. Why isn't it written about it? That the sufferings, that the love will cover, we're only talking about the pleasures? 

M. Laitman: Because this is the real goal. The real goal of the study, it's a revelation of the Creator to a person. And a person's entire filling with the Creator, what is the vessel of the person. 

Student: In order to nevertheless be rewarded with enjoying the reforming, the light in the Torah, should I meet the criteria of not needing this light? 

M. Laitman: So, what do you need? 

Student: I want to work for the commandment of the Torah because I want to focus my efforts on that? 

M. Laitman: But in the end, this is what happens, but not immediately under the influence of your requests. The Torah that shines on you with its light, changes you, moves you from that point, into a more correct request.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (32:25) A person should strengthen himself in faith and ask himself if he should add in quality or quantity. Let's say he's been working for 18 years on organizing himself as much as he can toward the study, reforming light, etc. And he comes to a point where he sees that in quality, he cannot add, and he cannot relinquish himself for the sake of the collective, to truly do so. And in this, he needs to grow stronger, right? 

M. Laitman: Right.

Student: And here, you come to a point where you somehow have a grip on it, and you want it, but it immediately weakens, begins to disappear, and fade. And then, if the Creator wants or the friends want, or whoever wants, you wake up a little bit, and you immediately fall. And this way, you grow kind of fatter and lazier, but is this the work, that's it? 

M. Laitman: I don't really understand what you mean by work. Of course, there must be scrutiny all the time regarding the goal, adhesion, the reason for adhesion until person sees what he really has in front of him. 

Student: You say adhesion. Adhesion sounds like you have to justify the upper force and that He does everything, you want to be adhered to Him. But it's not enough, that's not all our work. The thing is to strengthen the quality of bestowal, to work less for yourself and more for the collective, that's adhesion, right? 

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: I see I’m not making progress in this; I'm regressing. 

M. Laitman: You're not advancing because you're not asking for it.

Student: Exactly, so that's where the quality is – I sat and thought about it before I stood up – it's about how to strengthen this request, to make it more from the heart. Because you touch it every time, but there's like a weight that drops you, and you don't see any progress in this. So, is it simply about, like Sisyphus just pushed a rock and that's it? 

M. Laitman: No, he says that there is labor in quantity and labor in quality. So, try to check to what you are connected? To quality or to a request according to quantity. And then it'll be clear to you what you're yearning for.

Student: I always work on the quantity so that ultimately there will be more quality. But ultimately, I come to a point where the scrutiny is, can I give up upon myself for the whole, developing the quality of bestowal? And demanding for that, demanding that force, it's not even clear from whom it's hidden. I understand that, that's okay, I have to strengthen among the friends. The means are clear too, but still, this quality remains small and unattainable.

M. Laitman: Check, check, I'm telling you, and then ask again. 

Reading: (36:25) Baal HaSulam. Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot. #19

Through all that has been explained thus far, I have removed a great complaint about the words of Rav Chaim Vital in his introduction to Shaar HaHakdamot [Gate to Introductions] by the ARI, and the introduction to the book Tree of Life. He writes, “Indeed, one should not say, ‘I shall go and engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah’ before he engages in the Torah, Mishnah, and Talmud. This is because our sages have already said, ‘One should not enter the PARDESS1 unless he has filled his stomach with meat and wine.’”

This is like a soul without a body: It has no reward or act or consideration before it is connected in a body, when it is whole, corrected in the Mitzvot of the Torah, in 613 Mitzvot.

Conversely, when one is occupied with the wisdom of the Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud, and does not give a part to the secrets of Torah and its concealments, as well, it is like a body that sits in the darkness without a human soul, God’s candle, which shines within it. Thus, the body is dry and does not draw from a source of life.

Thus, a wise disciple, who practices Torah Lishma, should first engage in the wisdom of the Bible, the Mishnah, and the Talmud, as long as his mind can tolerate. Afterward, he will delve into knowing his Maker in the wisdom of truth.

It is as King David commanded his son Solomon: “Know the God of your father and serve Him.” And if that person finds the study of the Talmud heavy and difficult, he is better off leaving it once he has tested his luck in this wisdom, and engage in the wisdom of truth.

It is written, “A disciple who has not seen a good sign in his learning within five years will also not see it” (Hullin, p 24). Thus, every person for whom learning is easy must dedicate a portion of one or two hours a day to study the Halachah [Jewish conducts] and explain and interpret the questions in the literal Halachah. 

Question (MAK 11): (40:01) How to feel what the Creator wants?  

M. Laitman: Try to find out what you want, and as a result, you will come to know what the Creator wants. Because what the Creator wants is actually the question: What does the Creator want from me? 

Question (W Turkiye 7): (40:46) The light of Torah is supposed to develop faith within the person. But sometimes that person studies for years and he hasn't yet attained faith. So, she's asking, where is she stuck, what is she doing incorrectly? 

M. Laitman: Where is she stuck, this, I cannot say. Even here we see how much these things seem simple, but afterwards, they get complicated; so, we must only continue. The person should try to bring up his questions before us and we will search together for answers, and in this way, we will reach the solution. 

Student: It seems like there's no way to go, anymore, I stopped. Which determines this stop? Is it my own efforts or Ten's efforts? 

M. Laitman: Let's continue by asking this question until you get an answer, until you get an answer.

Question (W MAK 167): (43:20) How can we help a friend to get the remedy from the Torah? 

M. Laitman: Helping a friend means coming closer to him, and drawing him into the common study, joint study. And you'll see how quickly it helps! 

Question (W PT 6): (43:49) How can I awaken faith in my friends when I'm not in this state? What helps me? What effort I need to put to increase the need for faith in the Ten? 

Reader: The question was: How can I awaken faith in the friends if I still haven't attained faith myself? And how do I need to increase my efforts to help them? 

M. Laitman: Maybe for yourself, you still cannot, but to speak to the friends, to help them, you can – try and see. 

Question (W KabU 2): (44:48) It says in the article, one should not enter the PARDES unless he has filled his stomach with meat and wine. What does that mean? 

M. Laitman: The fact that he tries to study, by trying to study according to what is required of us. Mishna, Gemara, meats, wine – it means degrees according to how we advance. This is how we should go forward, according to how we advance.

Question (Latin 2): (45:52) How can we today soften our hearts towards the friends in order to feel the faith in what we do, that the Creator is giving us this opportunity, and we take advantage of it? 

M. Laitman: Talk about it, about how you can be more connected to each other in order to give a vessel to all the friends so you can incorporate in this vessel. And in this way, all of us will connect together, and this will be our great ascent.

Question (French): (47:06) What he writes here, I don't understand because it means that none of us is studying Mishnah or Talmud in a literal way. So, what does he mean in the work, is that something we need to study? 

M. Laitman: Yes, we learn and we try, accordingly, to open before us a way according to what the Talmud or the Torah require of us. And this is how we advance. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (47:59) There is a matter here of what comes first, also in the previous items. He says attain faith and then you can draw the light, or draw the light to attain faith. And also in this item, study Kabbalah, but you can't study Kabbalah before you first study Mishnah and Talmud. Could you maybe explain this a bit?

M. Laitman: No, it will soon be clear to us, we will open it for the study.

Question (H 3): (48:41) You answered the friend before that we should clarify what the Creator wants from us. Could you give some explanation to that? How can I examine what the Creator wants from me?

M. Laitman: According to your demand. Simply, according to the demand in a person's heart, he elevates this question, this demand, to the Creator. And the Creator fills him with an answer. 

Student: Through the friends, through the Ten? 

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (W Europe): (49:54) Is faith the only thing that is missing for us to reach spirituality? 

M. Laitman: Yes, yes, it is light of Hassadim that we need to receive in order to correct our vessels. 

Reader: (50:34) Because I heard a question, and I would prefer that you relate to it so that we don't get confused. He writes about the revealed Torah, that a person should first engage in Torah, Mishnah, Talmud. And if not, if after five years he did not attain, he should move to the wisdom of truth. What would that mean for us? Do we need to engage in the Mishnah, the Talmud, or our writings are sufficient, Baal HaSulam, Rabash, and they already take us through the process? 

M. Laitman: The way we came and entered into the wisdom of Kabbalah, and this is how we continue, that's the right way. 

Student: Is there a need for anyone studying in the world Kli, to open the Mishnah, the Talmud and engage in that? Or do we need to engage in ours? 

M. Laitman: I would say no one needs it. Maybe in some time, a few of us will face this question, and then we will solve it. Understood. 

Reader: Let's move to Item 20. 

Reading: (51:56) Baal HaSulam. Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot. #20

These words of his seem very perplexing: He says that before one succeeds in the study of the revealed, one should already engage in the wisdom of truth. This contradicts his own words from before, that the wisdom of Kabbalah without the literal Torah is as a soul without a body, having no deed, consideration, or reward.

The evidence he brings of a disciple who did not see a good sign is even more perplexing, for did our sages say that he should therefore abandon the learning of Torah? Certainly, it is to caution him to examine his ways and try with another teacher or in another portion. But he must certainly not leave the Torah, even the literal Torah. 

M. Laitman: Yes. Well, here it's clearer to us what he wants to say – it is closer to our situation. I don’t see any questions there? Let's read 21. 

Reading: (53:22) Baal HaSulam. Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot. #21

Another perplexity is that both the words of Rav Chaim Vital and the words of the Gemara imply that one needs some specific preparation and merit to be rewarded with the wisdom of Torah. Yet, our sages said (Midrash Rabbah, portion “And This Is the Blessing”), “The Creator said to Israel: ‘Regard, the whole wisdom and the whole Torah are easy: Anyone who fears Me and observes the words of the Torah, the whole wisdom and the whole Torah are in his heart.’”

Thus, we need no prior merit here, but only by virtue of fear of the Creator and the keeping of Mitzvot is one granted the whole wisdom of the Torah. 

Question (W German): (54:32) How to work with the light to have control over the subconscious and the body? 

M. Laitman: You simply need to study with us every lesson; afterwards, go over it by yourself when you're alone and have the questions that remain in you after you process the material, and that's it, you don't need anything else. 

Question (W Heb 1): (55:16) A while ago, Rav said about a Ten, pay attention to the work there because you're in a spiritual Partzuf. And in the study of TES, there are many concepts. And now we're also getting the lessons from Rabash with all the terms and concepts that will accompany us for a while, like Masach, Tabur l, and other phases. The question is, if we really work with the Ten from a spiritual Partzuf, if we merit seeing these concepts from within, from the actual work. Is it possible to reach a state where you identify more terms of TES inside the Ten, am I able to truly feel it?

M. Laitman: Yes, yes, you can receive learning through your Ten, through your group, and see how much it is present in the connection between you.

Student: There is something that always repeats itself – a matter of vessels of reception that are rejected by the screen, let's say 20%. And then in the Ten, will it be possible to identify such a move where you restrict to up to a certain point, and correct certain vessels, and then take another portion and correct that as well? Such a process will be identifiable in the Ten?

M. Laitman: No, this cannot be measured, these things, no. To what extent you have a screen today – it's impossible to know it for certain. 

Question (Latin 1): (57:48) What is a good disciple, what is he supposed to fill his belly with? Studying more terms, what causes a student to be a good student? 

M. Laitman: A good student is one who studies what we study in the morning lesson, the student tries to respond to all the questions that arise before him. To respond to them through the texts that he read. 

We ran out of time in our morning lesson, so until tomorrow. And write, in whatever language. And we will try, even before tomorrow's lesson, to open up all your questions and answer them during the lesson.

Reader: Thank you, Rav. And as we heard Rav's advice, let's do it. Let's write questions on what we've learned.

Let's send them to Board World Kli. We will gather all these questions. And we'll try to open them up tomorrow before the lesson.

And now we'll move to summarizing the lesson. Then we'll read from the Zohar.