The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Morning Lesson: July 16, 2026
Reader: Dear friends, in the first part we will study a lesson by Rav from July 10, 2002. It is based on the article, "What Should One Do If He Was Born With Bad Qualities?" You can find it in the writings of Rabash, second volume, page 1386 in Hebrew. Let's read the article together in the Ten, we have 34 minutes for that, please.
Reading: (00:38) What Should One Do If He Was Born With Bad Qualities? Article 41, 1991
It is written in The Zohar (Nasso 41), “One’s actions reflect the Partzuf that is on him, which is why he says that their countenance testified to the form that was on them, or from the Merkava [chariot/structure] of the four elements of the world, which are fire, wind, water, and dust (FWWD), in which there are neither the good inclination nor the evil inclination. Rather, they are like the beasts of the world.”
This means that the merging of the body engenders in a person the qualities, and this does not pertain to the evil inclination. For example, if one has more of the “water” element, he is lustful. If he has more of the “fire” element, he is petulant. If he has more of the “wind” element, he is arrogant, and if he has more of the “dust” element, he is lazy. But this has nothing to do with the evil inclination. This means that all the qualities that exist in a person that extend from the four qualities FWWD have nothing to do with the evil inclination.
The question is, What is the evil inclination? We should say about this that the evil inclination is what tempts a person to do things against the will of the Creator. A person must first believe in the Creator, and then it is possible to say that he is doing things against the will of the Creator, and then he begins to sin because of the evil inclination and does not want to obey the Creator, who gave Torah to His people, Israel.
Rather, the only reason they are (who do not achieve faith in the Creator) harming others is because of the merging of the four elements, as said in the words of The Zohar, which says, “of the four elements, in which there are neither the good inclination nor the evil inclination. Rather, they are like the beasts of the world,” in whom there is no connection to faith in the Creator. But for man, where there is the matter of faith, there begins the matter of the evil inclination, when he does not believe in the Creator, and the good inclination is when he does believe in the Creator. That is, one who believes in the Creator, meaning believes in reward and punishment, in him begins the work of the evil inclination and the good inclination. But those who have no interest in faith in the Creator are as beasts.
Yet, we have to say what The Zohar says, that they belong to the four elements and have no connection to the evil inclination or the good inclination. This is with respect to the work. But with respect to the revealed, meaning to the rules, they are subject to every punishment and judgment that the courthouses impose upon them, for there one cannot say, “I have no evil inclination and I do not deserve to be punished,” and to say that he comes from the four elements.
We must say that The Zohar speaks from the perspective of the work and not from the perspective of the revealed Torah, where it speaks in terms of actual practice. Rather, The Zohar speaks from the order of the work, where it can be said that a person belongs to the four elements but still has no connection to the evil inclination, since in the work, we begin to speak of the evil inclination from the time when a person begins to believe in the Creator. At that time, we speak of the good inclination or the evil inclination.
However, concerning faith in reward and punishment, we should also make two discernments: 1) Reward and punishment that are interpreted that if he walks on the straight path, he will receive in return a reward that he will be happy in this world and will also be happy in the next world. And if he does not walk on the straight path, he will be unhappy. 2) Reward and punishment that are interpreted that if he walks on the straight path, as the sages have arranged for us, and will believe in their words, then the reward will be that they draw near to the Creator. Conversely, if they do not believe in the sages, who determined for us how to walk in the ways of the Creator, they will be punished. The punishment is that they will be far from the Creator and will not be given help to draw near the Creator. That is, their reward will be that they will be given from above a desire to bestow, which is a second nature, and their punishment will be that they will remain immersed in self-love and will ache because they are not advancing.
This is considered that they are “placed under the governance of the evil inclination,” that they are separated from the Creator and cannot bond with Him, and it hurts them that they are placed under the governance of evil. That is, we cannot say that a person is punished but he does not feel that he is punished, meaning does not suffer from being under the governance of evil.
Rather, “punishment” means that he suffers because he is under the control of the evil inclination, meaning he feels that it is bad through suffering. This is regarded as a person being “placed under the governance of the evil inclination,” meaning that it hurts him. Conversely, those who are placed under the governance of the evil inclination but do not suffer, in terms of the work, this is considered that they still do not have the evil inclination, that they still do not feel that they are placed under the governance of the will to receive, called “evil.”
However, we must understand, if, according to the merging of the body, a person is incapable of doing good and must exert more than other people to do good, how does it help us that The Zohar says that the bad he does is like a beast? What is the advice that he would be able to do good? That is, what would help him to later obtain the good inclination and the evil inclination?
Our sages said (Rosh Hashanah [beginning of Jewish new year] 17), “The eyes of the Lord your God are on her, at times for better, at times for worse. At times for better—how? If Israel are complete wicked in the beginning of the year and are allotted few rains, but in the end they repent, it is impossible to add to them because the sentence has been given. Instead, the Creator pours them down in time on a soil that needs them, all according to the soil.” (RASHI interprets “the soil that needs them”—the fields and vineyards and gardens.) “At times for worse, how? If Israel are complete righteous in the beginning of the year, they are allotted many rains, but in the end, they move astray. It is impossible to lessen them, since the decree has already been given, but the Creator pours them down not in their time, on soil that does not need them. (RASHI interprets “not in their time”—before sowing, and “on soil that does not need them”—in forests and deserts.)
We should understand what this matter comes to teach us in the work. According to what The Zohar says, there are people who were created according to a merging of the four elements and have no connection to the good inclination or the evil inclination, but are like the beasts of the world. This means that good inclination and evil inclination mean that there is the matter of choice, where one can overcome the evil. But in the quality of “beasts,” it means that the qualities they have cannot be changed. Thus, what should one do if he were born with bad qualities and his nature cannot be changed? How can he have choice, which is the work of overcoming of the good inclination over the evil inclination?
According to the above, we should interpret that although one is born with bad qualities in which there is little good, when he walks on the straight path, meaning asks the Creator to help him overcome the bad, although the bad within him is bigger than in the rest of the people, and it is impossible to change nature, the Creator gives him the strength to use his qualities, in which there is little good. However, whatever good he does have works within him, meaning that the Creator helps him from above so that whatever powers he does have, he uses them in the right place.
For example, if he has stamina to learn only one hour, he learns specifically in books that bring him the light of Torah, meaning that through them he acquires the importance of the work of the Creator and receives an awakening that it is worthwhile to cling to the Creator. And when there is a little bit of thinking concerning work, he does not think, “What will I get out of this work?” Rather, he thinks, “What can I give to the King so I will connect with Him?” When he prays, since he knows that he is not gifted and cannot think great and profound thoughts, when he prays, he simply imagines to Whom he prays, meaning with Whom he speaks and what he asks of Him to give him. He says, “I know my lowliness, that I am worse than the rest of the people, so the rest of the people can overcome their evil and do not need Your help so much, whereas I have neither power nor brains, so have mercy on me.” Because he prays from the bottom of the heart, the Creator hears his prayer. Hence, he uses all of his small powers in the right place and at the right time.
But if a person is sentenced through the four elements to have good qualities and virtues, yet he is not rewarded, meaning he does not walk on the straight path—to ask the Creator to help him walk on the right path, his gifts are used in a place where they are not needed. That is, all the powers and talents go to a place that will not yield anything in spirituality with respect to the work, as it is written, “not in their time, before the sowing.” In other words, his work, despite the great effort and depth he puts into it, will not yield anything. This is the meaning of “on a land that does not need them—in forest and deserts.” This means that all the powers and gifts and all the good qualities are used in a place that will not grow, meaning that will not lead him to Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. In other words, he will not trouble himself to find the right guide and will not pay attention to learn specifically in books that lead to nearing to the Creator.
It follows that the fact that man was created from four elements has no connection to the evil inclination or the good inclination. But afterward, when he begins the work and wants to draw near the Creator, then begins the matter of the evil inclination, when a person begins to see that there is evil in him and it pains him. Then, when he sees that he has no good qualities, he prays to the Creator to help him. At that time, the Creator summons all his powers and the little bit of talent that he has. The Creator assembles everything and concentrates all the powers that he can, so it will all be in order to achieve Dvekut with the Creator.
It follows that although it is said that man’s character does not change, through the evil inclination, when a person begins to work and sees that he suffers from being removed from the Creator, through prayer, when one prays to the Creator and believes what is written, “for You hear the prayer of every mouth,” meaning even a mouth that comes from a person who is not gifted and is powerless to overcome, and also has bad qualities, and he is worse than the rest of the people, and this comes to him because he was created from the four elements (fire, wind, water, and dust), and according to the merger of the four elements in his body, he has bad qualities. It follows that he has nothing to add to this.
Yet, when one begins to work in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], it causes him to know that there is the matter of the good inclination and the evil inclination, as he writes in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar] (Beresheet Bet, Item 103), “If one engages in Torah and Mitzvot even for his own pleasure, through the light in it he will still feel the lowliness and the terrible corruptness in the nature of receiving for oneself. At that time he will resolve to retire from that nature of reception and completely devote himself to working only in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker. Then the Creator will open his eyes to see before him a world filled with utter perfection without any deficiencies whatsoever.”
According to the above, we see that although a person is born with the four elements and has no connection neither to the good inclination nor to the evil inclination, and he is like the beasts of the world, and these qualities cannot be changed, still, through engagement in Torah and Mitzvot, he comes to know and feel that there is the matter of good inclination and evil inclination, and then he can pray to the Creator to help him emerge from the control of the evil inclination. At that time, one concentrates on using all of one’s powers in the right place. That is, whatever forces he has, it is enough for him to use to an extent that will be able to give him the ability to achieve Dvekut with the Creator.
This is the meaning of “At times for better—how? If Israel are complete wicked in the beginning of the year and are allotted few rains.” We should interpret that when he is born, he has bad qualities in terms of the merger of the body. This is considered that they were “allotted few rains.” “Rains” are the power that yields fruits, called “fuel [or motivation]” in the work. It is written, “In the end they repent, it is impossible to add to them because the sentence has been given.” This means that they were already born with the merger of the body in the four elements, but “the Creator pours them down in time on a soil that needs them.” That is, the rains, which are the fuel, the powers with which we work, are concentrated so as to be used only for what is required.
Let us take “fire,” for example. On one hand, man enjoys the fire. When man has fire, he can cook, he can use it to light up the darkness, and it can warm him in the winter. Therefore, essentially, we can say that fire came to the world in order to correct it. On the other hand, if a person is not careful and misuses it, this fire brings destruction and ruin to the world, for through it, man sometimes becomes poor and indigent, even if previously, he was very wealthy. Sometimes, fire brings death to the world.
Likewise, in the work, man’s powers can bring correction to the world. If one uses the powers according to the order of correction, the forces bring delight to the world. As said above, if a person walks on the path of correction, the little powers he has are enough for him to achieve his completion. We see that even something that can harm the world, if we use this power, called “fire,” for example, in a manner of correction, the whole world benefits from it.
It is likewise in the work: When the Creator gives the required help, the power of the fuel called “rains” is enough for him to bear fruit, as there is a rule in Kedusha [holiness], that a person should bear fruit in the work, whereas concerning the Sitra Achra [other side], it is called “Another god is sterile and does not bear fruit.”
According to the above, we should interpret what our sages said (Nidah 16b), “Rabbi Hanina Bar Papa says, ‘That angel appointed over pregnancy is called Laila [Hebrew: night]. It takes a drop and places it before the Creator and says to Him: ‘Master of the world, what shall become of this drop? Will it be a mighty one or a weakling, a wise one or a fool, rich or poor?’ But ‘wicked or righteous’ it did not say. It is as Rabbi Hanina said, ‘Everything is in the hands of heaven except for fear of heaven.’”
Baal HaSulam asked about this, If this drop is sentenced to be a fool, how can there also be a choice for the better afterward? After all, there is a rule that one does not sin unless a spirit of folly has entered him. Thus, how can one choose the good, since he is born with a spirit of folly, so how can he keep himself from transgressing when the spirit of folly is within him?
According to what we explained concerning man, when he is born according to the merger of four elements, for which he has bad qualities, but it is not connected to the evil inclination or the good inclination, but he is like the beasts of the world, yet by engaging in Torah and Mitzvot even for his own benefit, through the light in it, he will feel the lowliness and terrible corruption that there are in the nature of receiving for oneself. At that time he will resolve to completely devote himself to working only in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker, and then the Creator will open his eyes.
Also, we should interpret here that although the drop is sentenced to be a fool, by engaging in Torah Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], the light in it will reform him. That is, the light in Torah Lo Lishma can shine for him so he will feel the bad in him. That is, although there is a rule that a fool does not feel, for how can one who was born from a drop that was sentenced to be a fool feel the difference between good or bad, this is so from the perspective of the birth itself, from the angle of the drop, that it was sentenced to be a fool. At that time, he is considered “a fool does not feel.” But through the light of the Torah, he receives the feeling of good or bad to such an extent that through the recognition of the bad, which he received through the light of Torah, he is then rewarded with opening the eyes.
However, we should ask, Why does the Creator sentence a drop to be a fool? It seems as though the Creator deliberately causes him not to be able to overcome the qualities with which he were born. We should interpret as Baal HaSulam said, that many times, the Creator does something to a person that seems as though the Creator acts to that person’s detriment. But we should ask according to the rule, “The Creator does not complain against His creations,” so why does the Creator make it so it seems as though He caused man to be unable to overcome?
The answer is that the Creator wants the creatures to know that He is not limited in His actions. That is, achieving Dvekut with the Creator is out of one’s hands, but rather comes specifically by help from above, when the Creator gives a person a second nature, called “desire to bestow,” and to the Creator, it makes no difference whether he should help him a lot or a little. Also, we should interpret here, as well, that the fact that the Creator sentences the drop to be a fool, it is in order for man to know that to the Creator, there is no difference between having great powers or small ones, whether he is very wise or a fool. Only if one understands that he must ask the Creator to help him, the Creator helps him. That is, after he received the light of Torah, through the Torah in which he engaged for his own pleasure, called “will to receive for his own benefit,” if he asks of the Creator, he is rewarded with the Creator opening his eyes and will show him a world full of utter perfection.
According to the above, we can interpret what our sages said (Taanit 7), “Anyone who engages in Torah Lishma [for Her sake], his Torah becomes to him a potion of life. And anyone who engages in Torah Lo Lishma, it becomes to him a potion of death.”
This is perplexing: Before a person is rewarded with his actions being for the sake of the Creator, he still cannot learn Lishma. So why did they say (Pesachim 50), “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma since from Lo Lishma he comes to Lishma.” How can it be said that a person should first learn Lo Lishma, if he puts into himself a potion of death?
We should interpret according to the above, that man, who comprises four elements, still does not have connection to the evil inclination or to the good inclination. Rather, as said in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar], it says there by learning Torah for one’s own pleasure, this is called Lo Lishma, meaning for one’s own benefit, still, through the light in it, as said in the Sulam,
“Through the light in it he will feel the lowliness and the terrible corruptness in the nature of receiving for oneself. At that time he will resolve to retire from that nature of reception and completely devote himself to working only in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker. Then the Creator will open his eyes.”
Therefore, this means that only through the light of Torah, by learning Torah Lo Lishma, the light in the Torah will make him understand and feel that if he learns Lishma, meaning in order to bestow, he will be rewarded with the light of life and he will see a world filled with abundance. And if he does not, but rather stays in self-reception, his state will be “the potion of death.” That is, he will feel the corruption that there is in self-reception, and he will remain separated from the Life of Lives.
It follows that specifically when he begins to learn Lo Lishma, the light in the Torah makes him understand what is “the potion of life” and what is “the potion of death.” By this, he will later be rewarded with the opening of the eyes and will see a world filled with abundance.
Reader: We're going to move now to a lesson from July 2002.
Note: M. Laitman Reading/Commentary.
M. Laitman: (33:44) We read an article from the rungs of the ladder, third volume, the portion of Naso, page 73. "What Should One Do If He Was Born With Bad Qualities?" So, what to do? Rabash gives us an answer already at the end of the article, that only at a time that a person is in a state where he has reached the study of Lo Lishma, which is also a degree, then from the Lo Lishma, if he's studying with the intention to reach Lishma, then he can reach Lishma through the help from above, which is called the reforming light.
M. Laitman (Source Text/Commentary): (34:33) This is on page 80, starting with, "We should interpret according to the above, that man who comprises four elements still does not have connection to the evil inclination or to the good inclination," as he said earlier. Rather, as said in the Sulam, where he says that by learning Torah for one's own pleasure, this is called Lo Lishma. Meaning he knows it's not that he's studying for his own benefit; we're talking about the person, we need to reach this recognition of evil — that is, for one's own benefit. Still through the light in it, as said in the Sulam, through the light in it he will feel the lowliness in the nature of receiving for oneself. At that time he will resolve to retire from reception, and the Creator will open up his eyes. And it doesn't matter with which character one was born — agitated, fool, lazy, lustful. I can speak from my own experience, it doesn't have to be just one of them. I felt I have all of these. So it's not that one hinders the other; being lazy doesn't hinder being lustful, and being easily agitated also doesn't stand in the way, you know. So it doesn't hinder anything, meaning these four elements can really exist altogether.
M. Laitman: (36:06) And what do we say? That one who engages in it — how to break all of these inclinations within the person — he's engaging in psychology, and nothing will come out of that also, because these things cannot be changed. You can be a very great Kabbalist, and we spoke about it many times, and remain with all of these qualities, and not to relate to them. This is simply not the Aleph-Bet, the one and two of our method, but the one-one even of our method — not to relate to the beastly qualities, but to the relation to the Creator; not the relation to my beast, and my natural beastly inclinations. You can call it human or physical qualities. Maybe saying beastly sounds bad to the ear, seemingly it's not a nice way to talk. But with respect to the Creator, what we call the Adam within us starts to grow. And then with respect to the Creator we can weigh the good inclination, the bad inclination, all of those things that we have to sort and grow, or vice versa, eliminate. But it is only with respect to the Creator, not with respect to myself, my nature. And also it's the same thing with the friend, that this is how I should look at him. The problem is that if I'm doing the work together with him, then my beast and his beast — maybe it's difficult for us to be together. But then this will be the second stage in our work, after we scrutinize our character really very well: one is easy to anger, or a big spender, or lazy, or controlling, and all of these things. After that, we will start to see how we can equalize with each other according to our inclinations upward, the character of each one with respect to the Creator. Maybe we can connect according to that. After we see that according to our beastly character no one can connect with another. Each one is alone, and it is truly so — a person is alone in the world, we can feel it. And today we can even see how there's no more family, or children, or parents, and it is all gradual as humanity is growing. Meaning the ego and its will to receive grow accordingly, a person becomes distant from the other. All the connections that we had, even the connections in a pack, in a tribe, in something, even in a country, in a nation, it is all destroyed. The ego destroys everything, meaning all of the fences. It makes the person, the individual, each one. So after we scrutinize that, then we start to acknowledge that the connection can be only through the Creator. And we spoke about that, only through godliness, only through the connection with the Creator, can there be a connection between people. That is, if we want to keep "love your friend as yourself," it can exist not like in the regime in Russia, but through the fact that our goal is in the Creator, and through Him we're going to connect with others, and then it can be done. Even a small group can exist only under this condition, all the more so for the whole world to enter this law of "love your friend as yourself." And it is all because all of the connections can be only on the human degree, Adam, meaning only in his relation to the Creator.
M. Laitman: (40:05) Except for our relation to the Creator, all of the other things we have are beastly things that do not require any correction or any attention from us, and it's just a waste of time and force to look at them. And the connection to the Creator is called faith. This means that as much as I can tie myself to the Creator, this parameter within me is called the measure of faith that I have. What does it mean? My connection with the Creator can exist on the condition that I want to bestow to Him. It cannot be in any other way. There is no other connection. The connection can be in the same lane in which He is connected to me. I can bestow to Him only on the condition that I feel Him, meaning the light in Him that will come to me and correct me. This is what He writes, that during this study, by the fact that I reached the conclusion that I'm studying Lo Lishma and I want to reach Lishma, meaning bestowal, then there is some upper force that corrects me and makes me into a human, Adam. What is Adam? That same measure of bestowal that I will have with respect towards the Creator — not towards humanity, but towards the Creator. This is called Adam. So this means, what is Adam? Adam is the created being, this force that we cause to have within us with respect to the Creator. This means only beyond the barrier; one who crosses the barrier, that spiritual degree that he occupies, that he is in, that he acquires, that is the measure of the Adam that he has within him. Again, I am saying that all of this fire and water and wind and dust, meaning lazy, lustful, spender, prideful — it doesn't matter how you say it — all of these four character qualities within him, these inclinations that remain in him, that's not too bad, they don't pertain to anything; next time he'll be born with a different kind of beast. So why nevertheless do we have these four qualities? They correspond to the four phases — the tip of the Yod, and Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey, they give a projection into the beastly matter, the matter of this world, the will to receive. Their projection in order to receive, on the beastly degree of in order to receive, not on the degree of the Klipot, the shells. In the shells these four qualities exist also, but there it's on the degree of opposite the Creator. Here it's just opposite the small beastly lust of how to fill oneself. So to fill oneself or to pacify oneself, one can do it through these four inclinations. Meaning if he's a big spender, he has to spend, by that he pacifies himself. If he's prideful, then he has to receive a filling for his pride, by that he pacifies himself — that is, he fills his will to receive. So in each one, it's a different merger between these four qualities, that's it. So Adam means that new vessel, which is called a soul, which can be formed in us through the study. That during the study the light in it reforms one. Meaning it builds within us this sixth sense, a desire towards the Creator with the screen in order to bestow to Him, not a desire towards beastly lusts. With the screens, you cannot build them on top of them nevertheless, with all of the calculations of how do I use them. All of that does not pertain to the work of the Creator. Therefore, there are two theories, or Torot, that are opposite to each other. One Torah is how to exist in this world, below the barrier. This is the Torah of the general public. Well, they teach the general public how to exist better as a nice, good Jew, a simple one, one who believes as we call it, faithful and common people. And then we talk about how he can control his tendencies so that he will be a good Jew. He will be courteous, he likes people, he controls his tongue, etc., etc.. And I'm not against that, God forbid. Those who do not cross the barrier and still do not have an inclination to cross the barrier, they need that, and they have to be in that. This is, for the time being, the Torah of the general public, that prepares them to some time reach the Torah of the individual.
M. Laitman: (45:14) The Torah of the individual is those who want to grow individually as Adam. You are called men, right — above the barrier. And then they already have a new vessel, a desire towards the Creator. This is called a new desire, a new vessel, with the intention to bestow; and opposite that, all kinds of disruptions awaken in him, called Klipot, shells, against the Creator. And then all of his connection, his attitude, his work, is with respect only to the Creator. That's how they're aimed. And whatever is aimed towards the Creator is called spirituality, is called Adam. Whatever is aimed towards himself or those who are like him, this is called beastliness. He exists in this world. The difference between them is the difference between man and beast.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (46:13) In this article, he brings everything to one point: just to engage in Torah and Mitzvot, and then the opening of the eyes will come, and all the nice things that he's describing here. But this concept — what is it to engage in Torah and Mitzvot?
M. Laitman: To engage in Torah and Mitzvot so that the light within it will reform one. Torah and Mitzvot mean all of the means that the Kabbalists, who have already reached Lishma, write about for us — they are called Kabbalists, right? So they advise us through which actions we can reach Lishma. These actions, for the time being, we call them Torah and Mitzvot. After we reach Lishma, even the smallest one — let's say Ibur, embryo — Lishma means the work of the screens. In order to bestow, that is called Lishma, for her sake or for His sake. So after I already enter the work of the screens, beyond the barrier, meaning I crossed it, then I already know what is Torah and Mitzvot. Then I know by which actions in my will to receive I perform deeds that bring me closer to the Creator, meaning they increase my intention to bestow. And then they are called Mitzvot, commandments. And by correcting my will to receive with an intention to bestow, I fill it with light that is called Torah.
Student: And what now?
M. Laitman: And now, all of my actions when I am below the barrier, but my intention is somehow — the intention is also not clear yet — but somehow, that with whatever I have, I do want to reach the true work, to relate to the Creator in the true form, in order to bestow, to cross the barrier, I have a screen. Whatever I can tell myself when I don't yet know exactly what it is, but somehow I imagine it to myself; then every action that they write for me as a counsel, if I keep it, this is called Torah and Mitzvot. It's not called Torah and Mitzvot in Kabbalah, meaning to make a beast into a man. We don't call Torah and Mitzvot the beastly actions that I perform with my body, with my hands and legs, or some objects in this world. These are things we have to do in the framework of this world. It is unrelated to the spiritual work. This is why I always said that this does not promote a person towards the Creator. It keeps him as a still of Kedusha. We talked about this whole thing in some other form.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (49:07) We say that these characteristics, these attributes that advance us — we say about pride that "I and him cannot dwell in the same place." And also it's written that the light in it shows the person his lowliness. How, as a Kabbalist who knows how lowly and distant from the Creator, can I keep a quality like pride? And how can I be prideful if I see that I'm in such lowliness?
M. Laitman: Pride is one of the four beastly qualities, right? So they say that you don't need to engage in the beastly qualities. This means that we have the four beastly qualities, which are as a projection of fire, water, wind, and dust — a projection to our substance. And there are these four qualities on the spiritual degrees as well. Also, with respect to the Creator, I have the quality of being lazy, the quality of being lustful, and the quality of being prideful, etc. But there it is with respect to the Creator, when I use these inclinations to bring myself closer to Him. It's something completely different. There, these four qualities later become the four phases: Hochma, Bina, Tifferet, Malchut — that is something different. When it says about someone who is prideful, "he and I cannot dwell in the same abode," we're speaking about pride, where pride is the most prominent form of the will to receive. What is pride? Pride means that I feel myself, my self, my "I," and this is truly my foundation, that I cannot give it up. This is called pride. My self is more important than anything else, more than any other person, more than the Creator, more than everything. This is called a Pharaoh within the person. "Who is the Lord that I should hear His voice?" I am in control, not Him, not anyone else. This means that if this quality still exists in a person and is uncorrected — his Pharaoh has not yet repented, as we call it — then this person cannot have a connection with the Creator, can't be in adhesion with Him. What kind of equivalence of form is there? What kind of "in order to bestow"? If our Pharaoh uses all of his will to receive in order to bestow, he'll become the most holy. It will be the end of correction. Pharaoh is all of our substance.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (51:48) Also in a beastly form, right? The quality in the beastly form. If now I feel in the work, through the light, I feel myself as the lowest and worst in the whole world, worse than everyone — how can I have pride in a beastly form, also in the most simple way towards people in the world, unrelated to the work? How can I have this concept of pride if I feel how bad I am?
M. Laitman: You can feel together with being the most prideful person, with that also that you are the most despicable zero as well. One does not cancel the other. I can see. The problem is, why am I able to see these things? Because if I look at my pride only, and don't check it according to what principle is different to it — moreover in the upper world — so I don't even see that this pride is something that stands out, or something that bothers, or that it's even me. It's a quality that's clothed upon me. However, if with that there comes to me the upper light and shines for me, then here I receive several discernments. First of all, I receive a discernment that I am prideful in relation to His qualities. I also receive the understanding of what those qualities against pride are — the qualities of the light. And then I already have two details, two pieces. And it doesn't bother me that I would receive also all the rest of the discernments upon all my inclinations. We need to understand that all together these are manners of the desire to receive that are in me. They can't disappear. That same root of the soul that I had in Adam HaRishon after the shattering, lost the screen and took on its form without the screen, which nevertheless even without a screen is made of the tip of Yod, Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey, the four phases. With the Keter it's five. These four phases must be in every created being, in every desire, meaning. And you cannot — also, not any one of them, nor the merging of them, you can't change that. You can't. That's your root in Adam HaRishon. That's your original "I," the matter with which you're created. And one who goes to battle this simply suppresses. The maximum that you can do is to suppress, subdue these qualities and not use them. And all the philosophers, and all the Stoics, and all these other methods that were in the Stoics, all the old, ancient times, and also today, we also have all kinds of methods that are… All together, what they do is teach a person how to forcefully control the natural qualities, so that by this he will see himself as a hero, as a man. But by this he is not an Adam, he is not a human. He is suppressing them. He is not changing them. This cannot be changed. It's before us in the order of creation. It's like what we do altogether with education. Now we're coming to the conclusion that education must be with as little as possible pressure. We also don't know how to use this correctly, but we're coming to the conclusion that it doesn't help. That after 20, 30 years, where we see in a person all kinds of bad inclinations, and all kinds of eruptions against the society and everyone, etc., it's because in their young age they were pressured. And that's correct. It's right. Now they're smart and wise and understand. But they also don't have a method to nevertheless do anything about it.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (56:43) Maybe the lack of understanding stems from the fact that we interpret these qualities — pride, lust, and so forth, through our simple concepts.
M. Laitman: First and foremost, we are concerned with our general desire to receive, not to be harmed. And then when I check, I can see how much I'm using all these qualities and show myself towards the society so that I will benefit the most, and show myself towards the society like a… The society has its own standard and respects a certain quality. If there's a quality that the society is in, and it respects laziness, then I'll see myself as the laziest of all. If pride is it, then I'll see myself as the most prideful, and so on, in order to benefit from this society. And it's not that these qualities themselves are bad or good. There's no good nor bad in them. Moreover, towards the Creator, we have yet to speak about this, about Sodom and all those discernments where, well, in short, what is below the barrier should not be our engagement. We shouldn't engage in that. Bottom line. Only begin to care who you are and what you are towards the Creator. That's it.
Student: But here he's speaking about the simple meaning of these qualities? It doesn't seem that way.
M. Laitman: No, no. in the simple definition of these words, of course not, there's nothing. He says there's nothing to do with them, they're simply beastly qualities, and that's it. Rather afterwards, when a person crosses the barrier, and these qualities are no longer beastly but rather his spiritual qualities, meaning in relation to the Creator, they take on a completely different depiction.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (58:40) How can a person, during the study, want to study Lishma?
M. Laitman: How can a person want to study Lishma during the study? Yesterday, let's say, I felt like I'm not worth anything, that I'm distant from the Creator, that I'm wasting my time, that my life is truly — there's no benefit in it, and just like I was born, that's how I'll die, and what a waste of time. Meaning everything inside my desire to receive for the time being. You feel how I'm talking, yes? And there's no purpose from this life. And what will be? I'll have something really good if I come to the point where I will be connected with the Creator. Oh, I was reminded that there is a Creator, and if I will be connected to Him it will be good for me, so it's worthwhile for me to connect to Him. How can I connect to Him? They say it's impossible any other way, there's no other means, no other tools and pliers that I'll hold on to; but rather if I study, and during the study I think about Him, then from above there's some light, some force that brings me closer to Him. And then I gain something, I'm rewarded with something. The upper light will come, something — I don't know — the heavens will open up, something good will be for me. I thought about this a lot yesterday, and really I had this feeling that it's worthwhile, and that besides that, really, what will I have? So I kept that intention and that thought. I came to the lesson today, and I'm sitting here and I'm thinking how, by me now truly using the lesson as a remedy, as some medicine that will bring me what I want — spiritual life, the nearing to the Creator, all these great things; so I think about this during the study, that the study will bring me. And what did I come to study beforehand? I just thought, if I study, then maybe by some knowledge I'll know how to spin things up in the heavens, how to control my life. Now I understood that through knowledge I won't be able to go out to the upper world or feel the upper world; rather, only through help from above the light will come and open my eyes. So I need this light, that's why I come and study. That's the beginning of Lo Lishma. Then there's a bigger Lo Lishma, where a person starts to feel that really, the fact that I think that I'll only have good — what is it that it'll be good for me? When I will have it good all the time, I see that to the extent in which I will feel that it'll be good for me, good for me, good for me, receiving, receiving, in the end it doesn't bring me pleasure. And that the greater pleasure, the more eternal, without shame and without some bad feeling of pleasure, is the pleasure in which I give, where I don't feel, or at least where I don't feel my ego, the bad in me. And then it's like I'm floating. And then I go to study just for that. I don't want to think about myself and not feel myself, I just want to be disconnected from myself. So certainly I'm disconnected from all kinds of troubles and thoughts and disturbances. So that's what I'm there for. And then I thought, okay, but what is it that I'm just like that, to be disconnected from myself? So what do I want to have? I want to belong to something eternal, whole, complete. Who is it? The Creator. Oh, so it maybe will be better if I enter into Him, and then it's just like I entered some place where only good could be there, in every possible way. So then I want the connection with the Creator. Lishma or Lo Lishma? Of course Lo Lishma. For myself, it'll be good. Okay, but I want Him. Now it's already starting to be Him. What does it mean that I will be with Him, that I'll be in Him? That He will think good of me, and I'll think good of Him. That for sure will be good for us, yes? So then I'm starting to think already, how can I bestow to Him? And from that, I'll feel that He's bestowing to me. Already Lo Lishma in such a way where I'm thinking of how I will have a good feeling towards Him — because I feel if I have a bad feeling to Him, I get bad from that. So this is how gradually a person begins to roll things, until he comes to a state where he reaches a state called the greatest Lo Lishma of all, where really, it just doesn't let you sleep: I want to love Him, I want to be connected to Him, I want to bestow to Him, and to forget myself in that, because I'm certain that by that, it will be good for me.
M. Laitman: (01:04:06) You know? It's like a drunk, let's say — I don't know how else to describe it. And if he is truly kind of sold on this matter, it's considered that he has a Lo Lishma from which he can already move to Lishma.
Student: But all of this is still Lo Lishma?
M. Laitman: This is all still Lo Lishma. But he constantly wants to come, to implement, to realize his desire, his expectations — he wants them to be realized. I want this kind of Lo Lishma, or that kind of Lo Lishma that is greater and greater. I want... how I want to use my connection with the Creator. So that's what I come to study for. Each time I demand from the study the attainment of Lo Lishma in a different way, in a higher way. Until I reach a state from which this I enter the Lishma.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:05:06) The greatest Lo Lishma begins with the beginning of Lishma, or is it...?
M. Laitman: No, in the greatest Lo Lishma he also doesn't want Lishma. He doesn't know what it is and doesn't understand it. The greatest Lo Lishma is: I want to bestow to the Creator, and to be with Him, like I love Him, until I truly don't feel myself. To that extent. Just like with love, where the law of love is... or the feeling of love fills a person to such an extent that it seemingly turns off his will to receive seemingly. There's a lot of ego there, a big ego. And everything, all this cruelty and everything — but this all gets hidden within some feeling of necessity for connection with one's beloved. That's it. But what was the question? How do I use my study each time I want something? I already understand that I can realize this through the study, because in the study I receive forces to realize what I want. So I have to come to the study with a certain lack, where today I want through the study, to change this and that and that, and this and that will happen to me. The study is truly like — what payment you want, or what force you want, so something will change in you. If you come and you don't have a precise definition of what you want to be changed in you by the study, that's study without benefit. So where does the light come from? The light comes, you awaken it, the friends around you are awakening it, and it's just going around you and goes.
Student: So in the study I pay for...
M. Laitman: You don't pay, but through the labor that you're giving forth here during the study, you draw upon yourself this light that brings life, that brings health, that brings strength, that brings everything, every good thing. And if you're just sitting and studying, and you have no demand for this force, then why did you come to study altogether? So you come and you sit and you don't know. The friends around you also — either in this way, or maybe they're a little bit better than you in this, in awakening this force; so this light itself builds the lack in you,so you gradually start to feel what it's worthwhile to feel from it and want from it. But what's healthier and faster in using it, is if you already come with a clear deficiency. Where's the friend? He was here, I thought, no? Oh, he's in guard right now. Wonderful. He many times calls me: "I don't have any understanding how to do my role there in the theater, my character. I don't get along with it. I'm going crazy. I'm exploding. I'm angry. What should I do?" I give him some advice, but actually, what is the most correct advice? You have a problem? Fine, come here. It hurts you. You come here, study, so the light in it will give you the answer how to do your character, how to do your role. Look at what a seemingly materialistic example — what's in this? But you're already going, you believe that in your study in the Torah, you have the forces to improve something, that there is a force in the Torah. That specifically — the only force in our world, this surrounding light that illuminates from above, from that world — is the only opportunity of changing something in my state here. There is no other means — a syringe, a plier, a fork, any other tool that can change something in me. There's no other way to change, only this light which illuminates. But when it illuminates, it doesn't have in it, how should we say this... it has a general influence on our soul. Certainly it advances the soul, but I need to decide what I want from it. When I kind of catch this surrounding light, and by it I change — like with a screwdriver, what am I spinning there inside of me in order to change? This has to be more or less clear to me. And before the study, we need to know this. Well, we know this. We gather as a group, we talk about this and scrutinize precisely what our deficiency is, yes? And then we approach the study in a clear manner — what do we demand from the surrounding light? And then, if that won't change, then we need to truly be in upheaval. What is this? Why didn't you change anything in me? Where was that promise of yours? So show me where I am to blame, and tell me why you didn't do it for me.
Student: We demand results on the spot?
M. Laitman: The results are in the place that I demand — what do you mean? If I don't demand results, then when? When you all wait another thousand years? Okay, so I put a timer down and I'll wait a thousand years. I'm demanding it in that moment.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:11:03) It's not clear, the disconnect between the corporeal qualities and the qualities with relation to the Creator. If a person is lazy, he doesn't want to change that quality. He doesn't want the teaching to change that quality. Let it stay as it is, except my relation to the Creator will be without laziness?
M. Laitman: I don't connect my four beastly qualities to the study whatsoever. I don't mean the light that reforms me will do that in my place. You know, I'm kind of a hothead, or maybe I'm short-tempered, yes? For that quality to be changed in me, I can suffer from them, that's correct, from these four qualities. I know them somewhat. But altogether I don't see a connection between those qualities and my connection with the Creator.
Student: Give an example.
M. Laitman: If I weren't so on fire, maybe I wouldn't be on fire toward the Creator. So it's better to keep this quality. Lazy. If I wouldn’t be lazy, I would engage in a thousand and one other things that the whole world is engaged with. But thank God, instead I'm sitting, I'm lazy. If I'm going to do something, it should be worthwhile to do it. I used to have... well, it's not important. There are such people, you come to offer them some business, and they say, "I work on something that would yield two million dollars a month, not less. If you have something that you can offer me in that range, I will listen. If not, I don't even want to hear it." This is called the quality of laziness. It's beautiful, to what limit you can come and to what you can't. You don't know.
Student: To me?
M. Laitman: Yeah.
Student: We'll talk afterwards.
M. Laitman: Well, afterwards... is it clear to you or not?
Student: No, I'm asking something else.
M. Laitman: Well, it's clear to me that if you come to me and you offer me this and this, no. It has to be clear to a person what he is going to be engaged in and what he's not. Otherwise, he's going to be running around like a baby — just like you put your child in a toy store, you'll see how he goes crazy.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:13:34) And if this laziness prevents me from getting up in the morning to the lesson?
M. Laitman: Good. Beautiful. Beautiful. If I don't want to get up in the morning, it's time for me to think what I should get up in the morning for.
Student: Okay, but it's still a corporeal quality. It's laziness. It's before I get up. If I already got up and I came to study, then I study.
M. Laitman: No, no, no. Hold on, hold on. These beastly qualities, no. These beastly qualities we were given them also for something. Not just to have a certain form for our humaneness, our human qualities. They gave us these qualities so from these qualities we'll be able to advance. But to use them toward the Creator and not toward other people, and not in order for me to go and improve them. Rather that from them, I'll connect to the Creator. When I'm lying in bed at 3 in the morning, and it's time to get up, I now have to activate all kinds of calculations. Is it worthwhile for me to get up or not? Yes, no. Meaning, if I aim those qualities toward my spiritual advancement, then I'm using them correctly. But if I use them toward the world around me, then what will I get out of it? They gave me those qualities, not so they would just lie in a drawer in my desk. They're mine. From those qualities, I need to determine my attitude to the Creator. Later, these qualities, when they become spiritual qualities, then it becomes a different kind of work. But for the time being, I work from within them. Also my spending, my pride, my impatience — all those things are things from which I advance. I aim them at the Creator; not those things in and of themselves, and not toward people around me. I have no calculation with that.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:15:56) On one hand, you say, I have no calculation in that. On the other hand, you say, we do use them, we are assisted by them.
M. Laitman: Relative to the Creator, it's a spiritual work. Of course I use them — how can I not use them? They are in me. They act in me. How can I not use them? They are me. I can't just toss them away — both toward the environment and for the Creator. I can only determine in what form, what measure, with what attitude, in which direction I use them more correctly.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:16:33) In the work, the disturbances a person receives — does he always receive them specifically in these four qualities? These disturbances, do they grow in him, these passions, these lusts?
M. Laitman: No. A person who advances, his will to receive grows. And when his will to receive grows, all those qualities of the will to receive remain. But in accordance with his will to receive growing, another parameter is growing inside a man: his connection with the Creator. Then these qualities begin to have a relationship with the Creator. And relative to that, according to that, they change. The form of pride, the form of impatience, the form of laziness — it's already different. Understand?
Student: But it grows as a disturbance until it becomes a spiritual quality? How else is it possible to influence a person?
M. Laitman: I don't see them as disturbances, as obstructions. Why are they obstructions, these qualities?
Student: Let's say laziness.
M. Laitman: It's not a disturbance. Why is laziness a disturbance? Laziness is a calculation you make in the will to receive. Why should I move a finger?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:18:15) In what are we different from each other?
M. Laitman: In what are we different from one another? In the combination of these four parameters.
Student: These four elements?
M. Laitman: Yes — fire, water, wind, dust — each one, every one.
Student: You said there's no connection between them and spiritual work, these four elements, no connection with corporeal desires.
M. Laitman: Are you saying, how are we different in spirituality or corporeality? Both in corporeality and spirituality, we are different in those four elements, how they combine in each and every one.
Student: Does that mean that to the extent that... or more?
M. Laitman: Using them correctly — and the greatest will to receive there is, is to reach the end of correction. That's it. But when you reach the end of correction, I promise you, just like you have today these four character qualities, beastly ones, they will remain in the same form.
Student: Even now, there is...
M. Laitman: Meaning there will be — how should I put it — something toward which you're going to get mad about, the most angry, and something about which you're going to be extremely lazy, and so on and so forth. All those things that are against the Creator, in those things, you'll be in complete negation in those four qualities.
Student: Still, I already feel like there's some vocation that's hidden in me, to… in terms of where I need to reach.
M. Laitman: You have the final picture in what way you need to appear at the end of correction? I'm sorry, I can't answer all the questions, but we have to study.
Reader: Let's share impressions from the lesson, and what we take from it, to implement in the Ten.
Reader: We'll go to the next part of the lesson; but before that, we'll sing the song.
Song: (01:26:35)