The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Morning Lesson: November 10, 2026
Part 1: Rabash. It Is Forbidden to Hear a Good Thing from a Bad Person. Article No. 4, 1987
Reader: In the first part, we're going to study a lesson from 2002. Based on the lesson, "It Is Forbidden to Hear a Good Thing from a Bad Person." We'll read the article together in the Tens. We have 35 minutes to do so.
Reading: (00:32) It Is Forbidden to Hear a Good Thing from a Bad Person
Article No. 4, 1987
It is written (Genesis 13:8-9), “And Abram said to Lot, ‘Please let there be no strife between you and me, or between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Please part from me: if to the left, then I will go to the right; and if to the right, then I will go to the left.’”
We should understand why he says “For we are brothers,” since they were not brothers.
The Zohar (Lech Lecha, Item 86) interprets this as follows: “‘For we are brothers,’ meaning the evil inclination and the good inclination are close to one another. One stands to the right of a person and the other to his left. That is, the evil inclination stands to his left, and the good inclination to his right.” Accordingly, “for we are brothers” means that we are speaking of one body and the quarrel is between the good inclination and the evil inclination, which are called brothers.
This is perplexing. The good inclination tells the evil inclination, “If to the left,” meaning you are telling me to take the path of the left, which is the path of the evil inclination, for it is always on the left, as it is written in The Zohar that the evil inclination is to his left. The good inclination tells him: “I will not go by your way. Rather, I will go by the way of the right, the way of the good inclination, which is always on the right. We can understand this. But when it says, “If to the right,” meaning that if the evil inclination goes to the right, which is the path of the good inclination, why does the good inclination tell it, “Then I will go to the left,” meaning that the good inclination will go by the way of the left, which is the path of the evil inclination? This is difficult to understand.
Baal HaSulam asked why is it that when Jacob had an argument with Laban, it is written (Genesis 31:43), “And Laban replied and said to Jacob, ‘The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine.’” That is, Wicked Laban argued that everything is his, meaning that Jacob had no possessions and everything belonged to wicked Laban.
But why is it written (Genesis 33:9), when Jacob gave the presents to Esau, “And Esau said, ‘I have a lot, my brother. Let what is yours be yours.’” He did not want to receive from him everything he wanted to give him. But Laban claims the opposite—that everything is his.
He said that here there is an order of work—how to behave in the work with the evil inclination when it comes to a person with its just arguments in order to obstruct a person from achieving Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator.
“Laban said” means that it comes with the argument of a righteous. It tells him, when a person wants to pray and wishes to prolong his prayer a little, or another example, when he wants to go study at the seminary, a person had in mind to be as strong as a lion and overcome his laziness. The evil inclination comes and argues, “It is true that you want to overcome, to do the will of your Father in heaven, as it is written (Avot, Chapter 5), “Yehuda Ben Tima says, ‘Be as fierce as a leopard, as light as an eagle, running like a gazelle, and as strong as a lion to do the will of your Father in heaven.’
“However, I know that you have no desire to do the will of your Father in heaven. I know the truth—that you are working only for self-love and you have no love for the Creator that you can say that the fact that you are going to do something now is for the Creator. Rather, you are working only for me, for the Sitra Achra [other side], and not for Kedusha [sanctity/holiness].
“Thus, what is this overcoming? That is, if you are working for me then I advise you to sit calmly and enjoy, since everything you want to do is for me. Therefore, I have pity on you so you will not make great efforts, and enjoy the rest.” This is what Laban said. That is, he dressed in a white Talit [prayer shawl], meaning he said, “The daughters are my daughters … and all that you see is mine.”
Jacob countered him: “It is not so. I am working for the Creator. Therefore it is worthwhile for me to overcome my laziness and do the Creator’s will. I do not want to listen to your argument—the argument of a righteous that you are making.”
Wicked Esau was the opposite. When Jacob came to him and wanted to give him his possession of Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], Esau told him, “I have a lot.” That is, “I have a lot of Torah and Mitzvot from other people, who are all working for me and not for the Creator. But you are righteous; you are not working for me but for the Creator. Therefore, I have no part in your Torah and work. This is why I do not want to receive it and admit it into my authority. Rather, a righteous, and you are working only for the Creator.”
Baal HaSulam asked about it: Which of them made a true argument, Laban or Esau? He said that in truth, both said the truth—what is good for the Sitra Achra, that they obstruct a person from achieving wholeness. The difference is in their arguments: whether it comes before the act or after the act. That is, prior to the act, when a person wants to overcome and do something in Kedusha to benefit the Creator, the evil inclination dresses in the argument of a righteous and tells him: “You cannot do anything for Kedusha. Rather, everything you do is for me.” This is called “All that you see is mine.” That is, you are doing everything for the Sitra Achra. In that case, it is better for you to sit and do nothing. Why exert to overcome your laziness? By this it subdues a person so as not to engage in Torah and Mitzvot. This is Laban’s argument.
Esau’s argument is after the act. That is, if one finally overcomes Laban’s argument and follows the path of Jacob, Esau comes to him and says: “You see what a mighty man of war you are? You are not like your friends. They are lazy and you are a man! There is no one like you!” This puts him into the lust of pride, of which our sages said (Sotah 5b), “Rav Hasda said, ‘Mar Ukva said, ‘Any man in whom there is crassness of spirit, the Creator said, ‘He and I cannot dwell in the world.’’”
For this reason, Jacob counters him and argues, “This is wrong! Everything I did was only for you,” meaning for his own benefit, which is a will to receive that belongs to the Sitra Achra. “Now I must begin the work anew so it will all be for the Creator and not for you. But until now I have been working only for you.” This is what Jacob gave to Esau as a gift and Esau would not receive from him and argued to the contrary, that Jacob was righteous and worked only for the Creator and not for his own benefit.
Now we can interpret what we asked, “How can it be said that the good inclination said to the evil inclination, ‘If you take the right path, I will take to the left.’” After all the path of the left belongs to the Sitra Achra and not to the side of Kedusha. According to the above we can interpret that the good inclination said to the evil inclination: “You should know that you cannot deceive me because I know one thing—that you want to obstruct me from achieving the degree of a servant of the Creator, meaning that all my thoughts will be in order to bestow. And you, due to your role, are trying to leave me in self-love. Therefore, how can I listen to your right, meaning when you come to me and clothe in the argument of a righteous, namely advise me to be righteous and work for the Creator. This cannot be since it is not your role. You probably want to fail my achieving the goal with your counsels. For this reason, when you come with the argument of the right, called Laban, what should I do? Anything but listen to you, and do the complete opposite of your opinion.” This is why it is written, “and if to the right, then I will go to the left.”
Accordingly, a person should always be alert not to fall into the net of the evil inclination that comes to him with the argument of a righteous, and not listen to it. Although it makes us understand that we are not going on the straight path, since what we want to do now is a Mitzva [commandment] that comes through transgression, by these words it ties us and we fall into the trap and the net, as it wants to control us with the justness of its words.
It is said in the name of the Baal Shem Tov that to know whether it is the advice of the evil inclination we must scrutinize: If what it says requires labor, it belongs to the good inclination. But if listening to it will cause you not to need to labor, it is the sign of the evil inclination. By this we can discern if this is the advice of the good inclination or the evil inclination.
For example: If a thought comes to him that not every person should rise before dawn, that this work belongs to people whose Torah is their craft, and not just any Jew can equal wise disciples, who must keep, “And he will contemplate His law day and night,” but just a Jew. It also brings evidence from the words of our sages to justify its argument, from what Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Minchot 99): “Even if a person reads only the Shema reading morning and evening, he has kept, ‘This book of Torah shall not move from your lips.’” Thus, it argues before him: “It is better for you to get up in the morning like everyone else and not be tired the rest of the day. Then you will be able to pray with more intention than you will be able to pray if you rise before dawn.”
It is known from all the books of Hassidut that prayer is the most important, since in prayer, a person thinks of nothing but that the Creator will hear his prayer. The prayer is when we can aim more easily and feel before whom we stand. It is not so when studying Torah, although it is written, “Learning Torah is equal to all of them.”
It is also interpreted that the meaning is that the Torah brings one importance and greatness of the Creator. It follows that the Torah is only a remedy that brings a person the ability to pray and feel the words “before whom you stand,” which is a remedy by which to achieve Dvekut [adhesion]. When a person prays to the Creator he can know with whom he speaks and in what manner he is speaking with the Creator. At that time he can annul before the Creator, and this is the most important—that he will annul his own authority. He needs to come to feel that there is nothing in the world but the Creator, and a person wants to adhere to Him and annul his own authority.
Our sages said even more: All the good deeds that a person does, both Torah and other things in Kedusha, a person can see if they are in order according to his feeling during prayer. It follows that prayer is the most important. “If you rise before dawn it will all be ruined. So what are you gaining?” Clearly, it is arguing the argument of a righteous.
At that time a person can scrutinize: If he listens to its argument and it will give him more work then he can know it is the argument of the good inclination. If he listens to its advice and it will give him less work, it is a sign that now the evil inclination speaks to him, but clothed in the argument of a righteous. By this it traps him in the net it has set up for him by speaking to him the words of the righteous. In truth, we always need a guide who knows how to lead a person, so as to tell between truth and falsehood, since one cannot scrutinize alone.
Accordingly, when the evil inclination comes with an argument of a righteous, wanting to advise a person how he can enter Kedusha, we can interpret what our sages said (Baba Batra 98a), “Anyone who boasts with a Talit of a wise disciple, but is not a wise disciple, is not admitted into the presence of the Creator.”
We should understand why it is such a grave sin to boast with the mantle of a wise disciple, meaning to regard the clothing of a wise disciple so highly as to boast of it. After all, he did not commit such a grave transgression worthy of such a harsh punishment as not to be admitted into the presence of the Creator. It implies that we are speaking of a person who is worthy of being in the presence of the Creator, but this sin of boasting with a garment of a wise disciple deserves such a harsh punishment.
We should interpret that it means that the evil inclination comes to a person and boasts of the Talit of a wise disciple, meaning speaks to a person like a wise disciple speaking to an uneducated person and advising him to be a wise disciple. It is as Baal HaSulam asked, “What is a wise disciple? Why do we not say simply, “wise?” It implies we should know that wise means the Creator, whose desire is to bestow upon His creatures. One who learns from the Creator this quality of being a giver is called “wise disciple,” meaning that he has learned from the Creator to be a giver.
Now we can interpret that the evil inclination comes to a person and advises him how to achieve Dvekut with the Creator, meaning to be in the presence of the Creator, but he is not really a wise disciple, namely that the aim of the evil inclination is not to bring him to Dvekut, but on the contrary—to separation—and it is speaking like a wise disciple because it wants to set a trap for him to divert him from the right path.
If a person does not notice who is speaking to him—the good or the evil inclination—and only hears that it is speaking with the Talit of a wise disciple, it takes pride in it, meaning lets him understand the importance of a wise disciple while conspiring to divert him to another path, to disparity of form. At that time one is told that he should know that if he listens to its advice, one who listens to its advice will not be admitted into the presence of the Creator, but to the contrary.
Therefore, one must be very careful and know with whom he speaks. He should not mind what he is saying, meaning that even if it says good things, he must still not listen to it. It follows that from an indecent person it is forbidden to hear even decent words.
M. Laitman: (27:41) We have read an article from Rungs of the Ladder, Volume 1, "It's Forbidden to Hear a Good Thing from a Bad Person," an evil person. Why? Because if at the core he's evil, then the clothing he brings you is good, but within it, the internality is bad, and you should be careful not to purchase that nice dress, those nice clothings, because afterwards, it will become apparent to you that there is evil content there, and that will pull you off the right path. And we should be careful about that.
Meaning, there is an obstacle in the beginning and an obstacle at the end, with each desire and thought that comes to a person. In the beginning, it's in the true form; if the intention, if both the intention, the clothing of the evil inclination and its content are identical, then you can see that, you can see that from the beginning, that it seduces and misleads the person, weakening him. Then a person can see it. Or if the clothing is sweet and nice, and only the internality is evil—the internality is always evil if it's the evil inclination then that thing will become apparent at the end. And here, we need to be careful. Things may sound good, but internally, inside they're evil. We see that in our cousins, it's not for nothing that they are our brothers. How are they our brothers? According to the external trappings, the envelope they took from the father, the envelope, Hesed, the Ishmaelites- Ishmaelim, and within them sits that evil inclination- the foundation they took from the mother. And so, up to a certain age, meaning so long as the evil inclination has not yet developed, they can be together. And then Sarah says, meaning the good inclination in the person, the holy Nukva opposite the impure Nukva, she says that they need to separate.
How does a person make this distinction in his life? The matter of the clothing is very important and very difficult, because if a person hasn't yet mastered the scrutiny of true and false opposite bitter and sweet, because bitter and sweet that can confuse him to obfuscate the matter of truth and falsehood. Well, that's what happens. Then he can hear good things from an evil person and follow the good things he hears which ultimately, that's false advice. We have no control over it, really. We cannot control it. But only by the power that's above us, then we can do it. Because if a person is not yet in the true scrutiny of true and false but still in bitter and sweet, then when the sweet comes, he becomes addicted to it. It's only above reason, or with the help of the society. There's nothing else here. He can't really rely on himself. And so on, our entire path, for that reason is full of failures, obstacles, until we gradually gain this scrutiny of true and false. And then it's written that a wise disciple needs to be like iron.
Meaning that bitter and sweet that no longer affects him. But in the beginning of the path it has a big effect. Not just the beginning. It's almost up to the entrance into Kedusha, holiness, you could say. We will scrutinize in the future what happens there in those stages close to the barrier. But it is written, a thousand times will the righteous fall and rise. Right? There's no alternative. He needs to scrutinize and fall with each and every discernment in him, to see how evil it is and how powerless he is, and then to rise and to continue, correct it, and so on and so forth, until he can gather all these discernments. And with those discernments, when they're clear to him, come to a shout, to a prayer, a complete desire to rise above his nature.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (34:05) What is the discernment of truth and falsehood in the preparation period? Which truth and which falsehood?
M. Laitman: The discernment of truth and false, true or false during the period of preparation opposite to the scrutiny of bitter and sweet, that's similar to what will come later. Very simple. Everything that a person went through and not what's ahead of him. What's ahead of him? It's written, Don't believe in yourself until the day you die, until the desire is dead, and you enter holiness. Don't believe in yourself that you went through everything and you're here already, and you're learned, and you can never fail again. You can be confused now in a second with a thousand and one other thing. And again you'll be like a baby, like a little child, you'll run after some doll, or a bubble, or some nice toy, and that's it. There's nothing you can do about it.
Nonetheless, the things you went through with those you can gradually come to say that those things are false. And from time to time, this experience is reinforced from fall to fall. Yes? This experience grows, until ultimately a person acquires enough impressions. Of course, from above, more things can be brought to him to make him fail, to make him fall. But if according to the roots of his soul he went through enough, then it's over. That's it. You don't need anything more. Theoretically, there's no end to the things that can be used to confuse a person, to toy around with him like that. But the purpose of this is for him to have records for later. When he enters holiness, then he needs all these records, all these impressions, and to use all these falls to justify the Creator, and so to turn the iniquities, and the sins, and the mistakes into merits and virtues. And so each one has a certain set number, a set number according to the root of his soul, for how many such obstacles he needs to go through. But there are many obstacles, and they might be very unpleasant. There are such where a person really goes into such things. And for each one, they come in a special way, specific to him. There's a person who's made to fail with beastly lust, sex. There are those who are made to fail with money, and one is presented the obstacle of pride, control, and it's given, and it's given more, and you fall more, and it's given again, and again you fall. And so, the person learns that this quality in him is bad, evil, because it brings him to failure from experience. He starts hating it. He begins to fear that he might again fall because of it. You have this very painful, unpleasant, difficult obstacle, so much so that he begins to truly hate this quality and departs from it, because hatred is distance in spirituality.
And so each and every one has, and usually it's not one of all these, but two or three in some combination, they become all these obstacles. And until you pass it. It takes years until a person truly gains enough experience in it according to the root of the soul and needs no more. It might take ten years to go through that, and even more, even twelve, fifteen, depends on the pace. It could be much shorter, but he must go through that. Without that, it's impossible. Or you can go through the same obstacles, as if the same obstacles, but with different clothing. If he works in the society, he's devoted to the society, he follows the society, then it's the same things, but there will be a different style to them, a little bit different. But still, it's necessary. These things are unpreventable.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (39:26) What makes a person suddenly reject the experience that he's gone through?
M. Laitman: Rejecting? A person can never reject any experience he went through. He can never reject it. It might seem to us that we forget some past experience. We never forget. It's simply that a stronger record comes, and all of my experience relates to a weaker record. And so now I see, ah, this was wrong back then. But now it's probably, it's for sure right. I was caught stealing ten shekels. So, the pleasure of ten shekels, and the experience of the bitter experience of the ten shekels, and the punishment for ten shekels theft, but now I have a million shekels in front of me. This is a pleasure which completely quenches the previous punishment. And also it seems to me, because I'm confused by this pleasure, it seems to me that I am capable of doing this, and I'll do it, and nobody will see, and no negative outcomes will come from that to me. And this confusion comes to a person, and he also thinks he'll do good things with that later, with the money, and be holy. I don't know. I'll steal, and then I won't have to work very hard, and I can devote all of my time to Torah and Kabbalah, the path of the Lord. Such confusions can happen where you simply justify this act of theft. You know, anything that doesn't bring you directly to the goal it can be painted in such a way, brought to you in such a way that it looks good. It's not so bad, at least. Maybe it's not so good, but I need it on the path. Without that, I'll be sick. Without that, I won't, well, I won't succeed. Well, there is always some justification.
Student: The question is how he gets out of it.
M. Laitman: (41:54) He gets out of it. He gets out of it only by entering it and failing. How can he exit? The person is deliberately placed in such situations, and he runs, and he wants to obtain some pleasure, let's say money, and he works at it for half a year, a year, invests a lot of energy into this, and forgets about the path, of course. And this path, the path towards spirituality is almost completely irrelevant to him. Or maybe he remembers it, and then he thinks, I'll make a million, and then I'll go to spirituality. I'll be free of all my problems. Or I'll make a million, and then I'll invest it in spirituality. I'll pay the tithe, at least. Various such things. And you can learn from that only through failure. The failure, where with that act he does, let's say with money, he enters a shattering, or how to call it, he goes bankrupt. It's not just that he leaves and despairs or something. No, he needs to actually go bankrupt. So, bankruptcy, what connection is there between bankruptcy and repentance, his repentance, returning to the good? It's the opposite, you could say. Maybe even if he makes good money, he makes a good profit, and then sees that it's no use, then it's the same thing. Even though he makes a profit, and he sees that it's of no benefit, it's the same feeling as bankruptcy. But usually, this is done all the way through in corporeality as well as in spirituality. There's no benefit from it, and he goes into great problems, troubles, and then these corporeal troubles and problems are replaced for him with spiritual ones. And then he begins to be sorry, but now for his spirituality. Well, this is an inner process, what is done with the person. But here, you can imagine many… what do they write?
Student: Scripts.
M. Laitman: Yes, scripts that are brought to the person. But usually it has to be a failure in the same action and all the way through. Complete. And then a strong record of it remains, a strong recollection. And then he gets tricked with something else, and another trick with something else, another exercise. Let's say, with lust, with money, with honor, with something else. Good things you have on the path.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (45:21) Can a person complete this process?
M. Laitman: But from that, the person becomes as iron. These things don't affect him anymore. These things have no impact on him. They all become child's play. But before that, each one of them seems to be a very important thing, very difficult, just all-encompassing. But after that…
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (45:52) Can a person complete this process of clarifying, scrutinizing the evil inclination without Torah? And at the end of the scrutiny connect to the Torah that has already filled the measure of failure and so on?
M. Laitman: First of all, these things happen only to those who invest a lot of power, a lot of energy. Yes? It's written, a righteous man there was without food and sustenance, you know, there's that song. So in order to go into those things, you have to be truly a soldier. Then you'll reach the true failures. If you go at it half in earnest, a little bit, you invest a little bit, you'll have small problems, small problems, like those outside of here. You won't reach greater, bigger discernments than a normal person would. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, a little bit of work, a little bit of money, a little bit of illness, like a regular family. And what they go through is also not random or redundant. It's also in order to collect negative impressions from life and to ultimately reach the question of what is the purpose of our lives ultimately. Why is there suffering in every generation? But it depends on investment. A good investment brings a person very quickly to those very good beatings. And so, when a person later looks at others, why do they not have while he does have? Maybe it's because they're not advancing. So, they feel a little bit here, a little bit there. The beast is always kind of the same. But a person gets to beating and falls, a human, rather. So, it's impossible to just see and judge with your eyes to tell who is more advanced.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (48:13) You said that a person who's devoted to the society goes through these obstacles.
M. Laitman: A person who's devoted to the group goes through these obstacles in a different way. Meaning, because he's devoted to the group, he's incorporated with friends. As a result of this incorporation, he already has a different possibility to arrange the records. All in all, we need to gather impressions, records, discernments. We need to build up experience on all kinds of desires and what comes out of them. If I'm incorporated with the others already by investing in them and kind of devoting myself to them, giving myself to them, I subconsciously absorb it. Subconsciously I take it from them. It simply passes to me to the extent that I give to them, contribute to them to the extent it comes to me. It's not felt. A person doesn't feel I contributed 20 kilos.
I received from him impressions of a thousand different cases. No, we don't feel that. But this passes. And then, in return for effort, but exertion is also suffering, relatively. In return for your effort, you receive from many people their impressions. Now, if I receive from many people their impressions, then they have to fall, and I invest in them. And from their falls, I'll learn that they have to fall. And if there is a group where no one falls but each one invests in the other, then where will we learn from? What impressions will we get? Ideally speaking, each one invests in the other. Seemingly, what problems? There are no problems. Then it means that everyone begins to learn from the love pains, torments of love, that I don't learn from the beastly torments that I run into, what I run into with money, honor, all kinds of disappointments. But I begin to learn through the torments of love how much I don't love the other, how much I fail with the other. Understand that our failure already passes to an entirely different level, to a spiritual level, to the level of our relationships. And there, there are all kinds of problems, explosions, quarrels, but that's already something else. It's already of a different essence, quality, a different class altogether.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (51:27) If I bestow investing in more people, then is my advancement quicker? Is it really a quantitative matter? Or if I bestow or invest in one, it's sufficient?
M. Laitman: Should I invest in one or invest in a few, several? We're told that, in fact, one is enough. Two is already a group. But I don't think that it's realistic. If it's one, a person will confuse himself. He needs a few people. You see here, too, there was an example where there were only five people. So, it was more or less easy for them to invest in one another. But once it became 15, they lost the connection with each other. But in fact, it shouldn't be that way. It means that there was no connection. It's a sign that there was no connection. When I invest in five and not 15, because 15 really requires work. And five I gather into a single image, and it's easy to work on it. I'm not saying that we need to start right away with a large number. But I think that a group has to be such that everyone feels that they work as one body. And then it doesn't matter whether there is two or 20 before you. But to gather one, and another one, and another, only on condition that they will always be as one before you. This is the test of whether you're really dealing with a group. As one man in one heart, do you feel that you're with him in one heart? And who's him? Him can be one person, or 10, or 20. The test has to be accordingly, according to this. And if it's still impossible, then take a limited number of people and work with them. But here, there's a problem. You take a limited number, and afterward you begin to add a few to them, and then the habit is also a problem to move from a small number to a larger one, maybe take to begin with a larger number, but people are ready for it.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (54:26) Does it need to be a consistent daily investment? If I work in the kitchen, for example?
M. Laitman: It has to be a daily investment from everyone or in everyone. It's like if I work in a kitchen or somewhere else, it doesn't matter. I'm, in fact, working for the entire group, and I invest in the group.
Student: When I work in the kitchen, I make food. I know that I'm making food for the whole of Bnei Baruch. And if I'm doing something else, then the feeling that I'm doing something for the whole of Bnei Baruch is lessened. I'm asking, I can be in the kitchen and feel that I'm… What's important is the feeling that I'm doing something for the whole group, or do I really need to grab some people to be next to me physically, in close environments, to work with them like that, live, all the time? Or is it enough to work in my thoughts?
M. Laitman: There are different kinds of work. We're given all kinds of opportunities to do things. There's more general work that we can do together as a group. There's work where one person alone in some remote place does something for the entire group, and we're not with them. There are all kinds of things. There are those who do work and don't see results from it now or later. There are those who do, who invest a great deal of strength but for some reason heaven doesn't let them see a clear result. It's not allowed, given to them from above. On the contrary, from above, they may even arrange it so that it'll look like a failure, and poor guy worked so hard, etc. We can't judge this by our own eyes, and weigh a person by it. I remember how a friend went to Baba Sali. The preparations he did, the things he took with him and carried, and what did he get as a result? Practically nothing. Not for him, for them, for dissemination, for nothing. It's a striking example. Everyone remembers. I think it was like three or four years ago.
Student: Three years.
M. Laitman: He thought that he's going to sell there like a hundred sets of the Zohar. Maybe he sold one or two. But the preparations he made—he put all the books in his mother's apartment, and then he needed to bring it all back. But all that didn't go to waste. You can say, ah, look what came as a result of all this work: nothing. The result is never in a person's hands.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (57:45) He proposes a test where you should know that the true path is where you have more exertion. If you have two options, then the evil inclination will always pull you to where it's more convenient for you. But this is also not… On the other hand, he says that if you don't have a true guide who knows what the truth is and what is false, then you won't know.
M. Laitman: Right.
Student: What kind of examination is that where there is exertion? Maybe you'll fail there.
M. Laitman: Usually, exertion, the test of how to go is according to where there is more… where you need to put in more effort.
Student: You know that many times a person goes towards what's more difficult, and it's not always…
M. Laitman: No, no, can't be. So, maybe. Okay, maybe that's it. So, it's going according to the effort. He's going according to the reward, according to where there's more effort, meaning that you don't see any payment for it. You see only more effort, and then you need the above reason. You need help from above then. Baal HaSulam writes that what a person is capable of doing is not called exertion. It's not considered exertion. If I can lift 20 kilos, and it's hard to the point that I kill myself, but I lift that 20 kilos, it's not called exertion. And with us, it's simply a bit different.
It's just called work. I made an effort and I carried out whatever it was, what is in my power to do. That's just called work. Effort or exertion in spirituality, means that I'm not capable of doing it. After all the efforts and all the calculations and everything, and I come to it, let's say then it's not 20 kilos, it weighs 200 kilos. Something is lying here that weighs 200 kilos and I'm not capable. I can't. What can I do? I simply look at it and what can you do? But if nonetheless I have to, then I already need a force that is above nature. If I'll be given this force which is above nature to be able to lift like two grams, these 200 kilos, I'll do it. If not, I won't.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:00:30) What does it mean, you must?
M. Laitman: It's a measure of necessity. The measure of necessity is the thing, it stands in my way. I now need to subdue myself before the friends. If I truly examine how it is, after a correct examination, if it is a correct examination that I promise you, each and every one will see for himself that he's incapable. It's like the 200 kilos that are now in front of me. I need to go along this path, and here I have a 200 kilo block, and the way I can't go around it, I can't jump over it, I have to move it. I can't, what can I do? And if I don't move it, I simply stay in the same place. The revelation of this, that I discovered that it's 200 kilos, and that it's standing in my way, and that I can't lift it, and that it's important to me like life and death really, I have no other choice. It's like a person who's in a case of that he's like really terminally ill, that he has to have some kind of medicine in his hand. If not, it's all over. If I come to all these states, and at the same time it's revealed to me that only the upper force can help me, and then I turn to Him, this state in which I turn to Him with all the necessity that I want to go along the path to lift this obstacle, that He'll help me do it or that He'll do it for me - it doesn't matter how it'll be expressed - when I come to that final point that He does the rest, it's called that I made an effort. I did the exertion. Afterwards, He does it. How does He do it? He lets me carry it out, or clothes in me and carries it out, or as if takes me and we do it together, or He Himself does it and I'm like a spectator. It doesn't matter. There are all kinds of variations here. And that's it. And then I pass.
So this state that I came to the state where the Creator does it, it means that I made an effort above reason or I exerted above reason. It's not written for nothing that it is exertion that is above reason. I'm not capable of doing it and I'm not demanding to do it. Rather, what's demanded is to make this final scrutiny that I'm incapable of doing it and I demand of the Creator for Him to do it. And this is how it is each and every time.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:04:08) Meaning, it's not that I jump on every 200 kilos that I see but only on the 200 kilos that stand in the way?
M. Laitman: Not that I'll jump on every 200 kilos that I see but only those 200 kilos that are standing in the way, but you jump on every 200 kilos, you check them whether they're on the way or not, and you're looking for the 200 kilos, or are you looking for how to pass along the path?
Student: How to pass through the path, but in principle, we're just checking where to invest effort.
M. Laitman: I'm looking where to invest. What is this, a gym, that I lift weights? There's a difference. In gym class, my goal is to lift as much as possible, right? That's the goal. The goal is the action itself. Here, I'm still saying that my goal is to pass through, to reach some goal, and removing the obstacle is a means. It's true that afterwards I see that it's one and the same, but still, right now we're speaking in terms of means and the goal.
Student: If the external result doesn't reflect the person's effort and desire, then why do we still make choices here based on external impressions? Could be that there are people who invest much more, but it isn't considered.
M. Laitman: We choose friends and people as role models or examples within Bnei Baruch, but what the eyes see. We can't do it otherwise. And this is what the Rabash writes, that this is really how it has to be. I don't need a hidden righteous here to sit on the side someplace. Maybe he influences me in some way that I have no idea even where does it come from, but I need friends that I get support from them. And support, not in that they invest in me and do it to me without my knowledge, discreetly, and so on. Rather, they help me as an example so that I myself will improve. I don't need from them just for them to support me, like the high souls that help us and pull us forward in all kinds of ways that we don't even know about it. I need the friends to give me an example so that I'll too do things like them in practice.
So, if some friend now, instead of sitting here, sits at home and studies persistently and invests strength, this also helps the group, I'm not saying that it doesn't, but he can't be an example for me because externally he's sitting at home. He has to give me an example for my actions. I need to see his devotion. I don't want for him to play the hidden righteous. He really needs to show me his love of friends because this increases peace. It gives an example that I too will want to do it. When I look at others, I expect for them to give me strength and teach me how to do things, and then this will pull me, it'll oblige me. That's it.
M. Laitman: (01:08:03) But if we all become hidden righteous, then each one will be occupied only with justifying the friend, whatever he does. Surely, he has a justification, and he's doing the right thing, and the Creator arranged it for him, and after all, every action that is revealed, this is already the Creator's will. And what will we get as a result? Rather, we need to, not to go here according to what is revealed is the Creator's will, but according to “if not I for myself, then who is?” That, if “I'm not for myself, who is for me?” I need a commando unit then. On the contrary, I want each one to show me even more than what he perhaps is doing and is capable of doing. What do I care what is he on the inside? The main thing for me is to be inspired, impressed by it, and then I'll really do something that he can't carry out. So afterwards, I'll play the same thing, and then he'll be able to do it. Each one will be able to raise himself through the other. I can tell myself something ten times. Nothing will help.
Student: Theoretically, you can…
M. Laitman: It's not theoretical. You don't smoke, so you don't understand it. I brainwashed myself. What books? What X-rays? I couldn't convince. Maybe not these cigarettes, not Gitanes, something with a filter, you know. I once went into a place. You know what it means that it's forbidden to smoke? If you ask, maybe yes. You're doing this. They gave me such contempt that it was difficult for me. When I was there with this habit, I felt such repulsion, I felt a hatred for it. It was very easy for me. You know, the body didn't demand it. Very simple, as if I don't need it. But truly, inside, if you were to measure with some medical measurements, you would see that he needs it because habit becomes a second nature, that's it. But I didn't feel it. To that extent, the hatred for it that I absorbed from them suppressed all my craving, all the feeling of this hunger for nicotine. I remember this.
So what is a society? A society can do to you whatever it wants. You'll go mad. You'll walk into a society, you'll go mad by its influence on you.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:11:46) What is the difference between this and politicians? There could be ten of them that…
M. Laitman: So the difference is between the societies, what I'm going to be impressed by. And the difference between… You're asking this, is this society that I'm going to be impressed with on the spiritual path, is this society maybe the role-acting? Why should I care if they're acting? My body accepts this act as true, truth, it does good deeds. Let them act, that they're all in Atzilut. Let them give me an example of what is Atzilut according to their actions. Not that each one makes of himself a hidden righteous, that he's in Atzilut, but he does nothing in himself. No, let him do nothing, but pretend as though he's in Atzilut. It's a different matter how he knows, but if they all act this way towards me, I'll be impressed by it. I'll make of myself these things. They'll give me these forces. This is what I need from them.
Do I demand of them to love me? I can't. But if they show me that they engage truly in love of friends, externally, superficially - inside, each one remains as he is, of course, but externally, if I'm impressed by them, I will have to, against my will, whether I want to or not - it won't be against my will, it will be my will. I want to do things that before that I didn't dream I could. I'll suddenly run and do this, and to this, and to that. I won't be able not to do it. I'll be impressed with them that much. I will enjoy doing these things. It will be a deficiency within me, it won't cost me any effort to do it. You understand what we're talking about? It won't cost me effort to do such good deeds. And it's not like today thinking about something and doing something is such efforts. I have to make all kinds of calculations within me that it's worth your while: do a little something, it still comes back to you, maybe spirituality, they say, maybe a little bit of corporeality. You won't need all those calculations. It becomes you.
Student: Oh, that's envy?
M. Laitman: What do you mean, it is worthwhile?
Student: Envy.
M. Laitman: It doesn't matter. Out of envy, lust, honor, it doesn't matter what we need to use, but it's not out of envy. It's through an example.
There's also envy here, but there's also such impression that whether you want to or not, it comes seemingly from the wind. And if this thing is not as an example, a conspicuous and respectable example — respectable, not that everyone says, yeah, okay, but respectable — then it won't work. If someone dismisses such examples, you should immediately, if someone is still new, okay, keep him in this group. But if someone shows any dismissal towards it, he should simply be thrown out of here. And then there is hope.
Reader: Well, share your impressions from the lesson and what we're taking from it to realize in the Ten.
Reader: Before we move to the next part of the lesson, we'll sing a song together.
Song: (01:21:45)