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

Daily Morning Lesson: October 13, 2026

Part 1: Rabash. Concerning Bestowal. Article No. 16, 1984

Reader: In the first part of the lesson, we will study a lesson from Rav, from March 2003, based on an article called "The Matter of Bestowal," which we can find in “The Writings of Rabash.” We'll read it together in our Tens. We have 45 minutes to do so, please.

Reading: (00:58) Concerning Bestowal

Article No. 16, 1984

Explaining the matter of bestowal. When a person serves someone whom the world regards as important, the important person doesn’t need to reward him for his service. Rather, the very service of an important person is regarded by him as though he has rewarded him. This means that if one knows that he is an important person, he already enjoys the service and doesn’t need further reward for his service. Instead, the service itself is his pleasure.

But if he is serving an ordinary person, he takes no pleasure in the service and must be rewarded for the service. This means that if he does that same service for an important person, he needs no reward.

If, for example, an important person comes by plane, carrying a small suitcase, many people are waiting for his arrival, and the important person gives his suitcase to someone to take it to the car that will take him home. For this service he wants to give him, say, one hundred dollars. He will certainly refuse to receive from him because the pleasure he derives from his service is more than the hundred dollars he is giving him.

But if he were an ordinary person, he wouldn’t serve him even for money. Instead, he would tell him, “There are porters here; they will carry your suitcase to the car. As for me, it is beneath me to serve you. But since it is the porters’ job, they will be happy to serve you if you pay them.”

It follows that in his same action, there is a difference and significant distinction not in the act, but for whom he does it—if he is doing it for an important person. It depends only on the importance of that individual in that person’s eyes, meaning what he feels about that person’s greatness. It doesn’t matter if he understands that he is an important person or if others around him say that he is an important person; this already gives him the strength to serve him without needing any reward.

According to the above, we should understand the true intention of the one who is serving the important person. Is his intention to enjoy serving him, since he considers it a great privilege? Or is it because he takes great pleasure in serving him? From which source does the pleasure of serving the important person come to him? He doesn’t know. However, he is seeing something natural—that there is great pleasure involved here—so he wants to serve him.

In other words, is his aim that this is an important person, which is why he wants that person to enjoy? Or does he want to serve him because it gives him joy? Meaning, if he could have the same pleasure that he takes in serving him through some other means, would he relinquish this service, since he only wants to serve him because he feels that here he could find a good feeling, and this is why he serves him?

The question is whether the service is because he wants the important person to feel good, the pleasure that he derives from serving him is only a result, but his aim is not for himself but only for the important person to feel good. Or, is he in fact not considering the important person, but all his calculations are about how much pleasure he can derive from it?

And if we asked, “Does it matter with which intention he is working?” The answer is that we should know what vessels of bestowal mean.

There are three discernments that we find in an act of bestowal:

1) He engages in bestowal upon others—whether with his body or with his money—in order to be rewarded for it. In other words, the service itself is not enough to give him pleasure. Instead, he wants to be given something else in return for it. For example, he wants to be given honor in return for his work in bestowal. For that, he has the strength to work. But if he weren’t confident that he would receive honor in return for it, he wouldn’t do what he does for others.

2) He engages in bestowal upon others and does not wish to be given any reward for his work, meaning another thing, something else. Rather, he settles for performing acts of bestowal. It is in his nature to enjoy doing good to others and this is his whole pleasure. Certainly, this is a greater degree than the first, since from here we see that he does things with the aim to do good to others. We should call it, “Bestowing in order to bestow.”

However, if we look a little deeper and scrutinize his real intention in giving to others, does he do all those deeds because he wishes to enjoy—meaning for self-love, since by his nature, he enjoys acts of bestowal—or is his aim that he enjoys others having good things?

In other words, is he enjoying others having a good mood and this is why he tries to do good to others, so they would be in high spirits and enjoy their lives? And if by chance he sees that there is another person, and that person would succeed more than he in doing what he wishes to do for his town’s people, would he relinquish his pleasure in performing acts of bestowal and try to have the other person do it?

Indeed, if that person—who engages in acts of bestowal without wanting any reward for his work—couldn’t make the concession of having the other person do those things for his town’s people, although he knows the other person is more competent, we still cannot call this “bestowing in order to bestow,” since at the end of the day, self-love is his determining factor.

3) He is working in order to not receive any reward. And even if he sees that there is another person who is more competent, he relinquishes his pleasure in giving to others and cares only for the well-being of the other. This is called “bestowing in order to bestow.”

Thus, there is broad scrutiny that must be made here about his real intention: whether he wants high spirits for himself and this is why he serves him, or is he aiming to give high spirits to the important person.

To understand the above distinction, we can understand the matter by a person picturing for himself that he is a very important person, and this is why he wishes to please him, so he would be in high spirits, and this is why he wants to serve him. But during the service that he does for him, he himself is in high spirits and feels elated. Now he feels that all the pleasures he would feel in his life are nothing compared to what he is feeling now, since he is serving the most important person in the world, and he has no words to describe the contentment he derives from wanting to make that important person be in high spirits.

Now he can scrutinize himself, meaning what is his aim in wanting to give contentment to the important person—is he caring for his own good, meaning that he wants to delight him because it would give him high spirits—or is he aiming only for the important person to enjoy, so the important person will have high spirits, and he has a great desire to serve him only because of the greatness of that person?

Thus, although during the service he feels the great pleasure that is derived during the service, still, if he knows that there is someone who would give more contentment to the important person if he were to serve him, he concedes his own pleasure, which he can feel during the service. Instead, he wishes wholeheartedly for the other to do this service because it would bring him more contentment than if he were to serve him.

It therefore follows that if he agrees to concede his service—even though he experiences great delight from his service, and yet, to benefit the important person and make him more content, he relinquishes it because he is not thinking of himself but only of the benefit of the important person—this is considered that he has no intention of self-benefit. Instead, it is all in order to bestow and he has no consideration of himself. At that time, he has the complete scrutiny, for he cannot deceive himself, and this is called, “complete bestowal.”

However, we should know that one cannot achieve this on his own. Rather, it is said about that (Kidushin, 30), “Man’s inclination overcomes him each day and seeks to kill him, as it is said, ‘The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him.’ And if the Creator did not help him, he would not overcome it, as it is said, ‘The Lord will not leave him in his hand.’”

This means that first, one must see if he has the strength to come to be able to act with the aim to bestow contentment upon the Creator. Then, when he has already come to realize that he cannot achieve it by himself, that person focuses his Torah and Mitzvot on a single point, which is that “the light in it reforms him,” that this will be the only reward that he wants from the Torah and Mitzvot. In other words, the reward for his labor will be for the Creator to give him this strength called “the power of bestowal.”

There is a rule that one who makes an effort, meaning cancels his rest, it is because he wants something, since he knows that without labor he will not be given, so he must toil. For this reason, a person who exerts to keep Torah and Mitzvot must certainly be missing something, and this is why he exerts in Torah and Mitzvot, to obtain what he wishes through it.

Accordingly, one must pay attention and contemplate what he wants—what is the reward that he wants for his work—before he begins his work in serving the Creator. Or, put simply, what is the reason that compels him to engage in Torah and Mitzvot? Then, when he determines what he needs, for which he must toil, a person begins to think very hard until it is difficult for him to know what he really wants.

This is why many people cannot determine the real goal when they begin to contemplate the purpose of their work. Instead, they say, “Why should we tire ourselves with scrutinizing?” Instead, they work without any purpose and say, “We are working for the next world.”

And what is the next world? “Why should we think about that? We only believe that it’s good and settle for that. When we receive the reward of the next world, then we’ll know what it is. Why should we get into scrutinies?”

Only a few say that there is the matter of Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, and that to achieve Dvekut they must achieve equivalence of form, meaning “As He is merciful, you, too, are merciful.” And then he begins to try to achieve equivalence of form—that all his actions will be in bestowal—for only then the restriction and concealment that exist in the world are removed from him and he begins to feel the Kedusha [holiness].

But when he begins to reach the degree of bestowal in his work, he sees that he is very far from it, that he has no desire for a thought, word, or deed that he would have the ability to aim in order to bestow. And then he doesn’t know what to do to obtain the power of bestowal. And each time he adds effort, he sees that this whole matter is far from him. In the end, he realizes that it is not humanly possible that he will ever reach it.

At that time, he realizes that only the Creator can help him, and only then does he understand that he must engage in Torah and Mitzvot in order to receive reward. And the reward for his labor will be for the Creator to give him the power of bestowal. This is the reward he hopes for, since he wants to achieve Dvekut with the Creator, which is equivalence of form, meaning bestowal.

And this is the only reward he hopes for—that through his toil in Torah and Mitzvot he will be given what he cannot obtain by himself, and instead, he needs another to give him. It is like labor in corporeality: since one cannot obtain money by himself, he works, and in return, he is paid money. Likewise, in spirituality, what he cannot obtain by himself, he needs someone to give it to him, so this is what we call “reward.”

Therefore, when a person wishes to achieve the quality of bestowal because he wants to achieve Dvekut with the Creator, and he cannot obtain this quality, but needs the Creator to give it to him, that which he wants to be given is called “reward.” And since there is a rule that if one wants reward he must make an effort and work, he keeps Torah and Mitzvot to be given this reward, which is called “the power of bestowal,” meaning to exit self-love and receive a desire to have the strength to engage only in love of others.

This is the meaning of, “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], for from Lo Lishma one comes to Lishma [for Her sake] because the light in it reforms him.” Thus, through the labor in Torah and Mitzvot to achieve Lishma, he will achieve the degree of Lishma by laboring first. This is why he is rewarded with the light in it, which reforms him, and it is considered that he was given the power of bestowal from above.

However, we should ask, “Why does he first need to exert himself and afterwards be given the light of Torah? Why is he not given the light of Torah immediately, so it will reform him instantly? Also, why exert and toil for nothing and waste time for nothing? Wouldn’t it be better if he were given the light right at the beginning of his work, meaning that he would immediately receive the light and would immediately begin his work in Lishma?”

The thing is that there is no light without a Kli [vessel], and a Kli means a desire. In other words, when a person has a need and craves to satisfy that need, this is called “a Kli.” Only then, when he has a Kli—meaning a desire for some fulfillment—can it be said that he is given the filling and he is content with the filling that he was given, since this is what he craved. Reward is considered a fulfillment, when the craving receives. Moreover, the measure of the importance of the fulfillment depends on the measure of the craving. And by the measure of his suffering, to that extent one enjoys the fulfillment.

For this reason, it is impossible to give a person a light that will reform him when he has no desire for it whatsoever. This is because reforming him means he will lose the power of self-love and receive the power of love of others.

If a person has no desire to exit self-love, and he is told, “Do some work and in return you will have no desire for self-love,” he does not regard it as a reward. On the contrary, he thinks that for the work he did for the owner, he should have rewarded him in return for his labor. But in return, he is giving him something very bad, and so much so that he would lose all the self-love in an instant. Who would agree to that?

For this reason, first one must study in Lo Lishma, so that through it, the body will assist him, since a person is willing to give up a small pleasure to receive a great pleasure. But by nature, one is incapable of imagining pleasure unless it is based on self-love. Therefore, he is told that he will be rewarded for engaging in Torah and Mitzvot. This is not a lie, for he will certainly be rewarded. In other words, he is told that for his effort in Torah and Mitzvot, he will be rewarded, and this is the truth, since he will indeed be rewarded, but the reward will change.

For example, a father tells his child, “If you are a good boy, I will buy you a toy car, a plastic car.” Afterwards, the father goes abroad and returns several years later. The son has already grown, and he comes to his father and tells him, “Dad, before you went abroad, you promised me a plastic toy car.” So his father goes and buys him a real car, one that can travel great distances.

The son is already clever and understands that now is not the time for a plastic car, but for a real car. Is this considered a deception by his father? Of course not! Instead, now the boy sees that when he was a child, he could only understand a trifle reward.

Here, too, he begins with a trifling reward, called Lo Lishma, meaning he is waiting to be rewarded with something that is worthless compared to the real reward that he will receive—being rewarded with Lishma, which is the Kli in which one can receive the delight and pleasure that the Creator wishes to impart. Those are the real pleasures.

It follows that by telling him to work in Lo Lishma, meaning to receive a reward, this is true, meaning that when he aims in order to bestow, he will be rewarded, too. The only falsehood is in the actual reward. While a person is in Lo Lishma, he thinks that he will be given a different reward, that the Kli that receives it is called “self-love.”

But afterwards, when a person grows, he begins to understand that the Kelim [vessels] that actually receive the reward are the Kelim of bestowal, that it is precisely through those Kelim that the real delight and pleasure is received. At that time, he feels that he is the happiest man on earth. But the reward that he wished to receive while he was in Lo Lishma could only be a reward suitable for a little boy.

Thus, when teaching to receive reward and pleasure for one’s work in Lo Lishma, it is not considered a lie, since he did not lose anything by his reward being exchanged for a greater reward. We should only explain that the Lo Lishma, meaning this reward, is not the real name, as he thinks. Instead, the reward has a different name than what he thought. However, a reward remains a reward, and the reward is not changed; only the name of the reward changes—from a false and imaginary reward to a true reward.

From all the above, it follows that the main thing that a person needs in return for his toil in Torah and Mitzvot is for the Creator to give him the vessels of bestowal, which one cannot obtain by himself because they are contrary to nature. However, this is a gift from above—that his reward will be always to wait for the time when he can bring contentment to the Creator. And since this is the reward that he awaits, this is called “his reward.”

To understand the above, we should look in “General Preface to the Tree of Life” (Item 3), where it is written, “The root of the darkness is the Masach in the Kli of Malchut, and the root of the reward is rooted in the Reflected Light that comes out through a Zivug de Hakaa.”

There he offers the root to what we see in this world—that everything that we see in this world is a branch that extends from the roots, from the upper worlds. He says there, “The root of the labor that a person feels in this world extends from the root of the Masach in the Kli of Malchut.”

This means that the Kli that the creatures have is called “a desire to receive pleasure,” which the Creator created because of His desire to delight His creatures. Hence, He created in the creatures a desire to receive pleasure. In the upper Sefirot, this is called Malchut.

Afterwards, we learn that there was a Tzimtzum [restriction]. This means that one doesn’t want to be a receiver because he wants equivalence of form with the Creator; hence, a rule was made in the Kedusha [holiness] that nothing is received unless there is an aim to bestow.

This is the meaning of the correction of the Masach [screen]. Since we are speaking of upper lights, not wanting to receive light is called “a Masach.” It is like a person who places a curtain or a veil when the sun shines too brightly and he doesn’t want to receive the sunlight, so that the sun will not shine into the house.

Hence, when speaking of upper lights, although Malchut had a great desire and craving to receive the light of pleasure, she still relinquished the pleasure, not receiving it because she wanted equivalence of form. This is called “labor,” meaning doing something against her will—preventing herself from receiving the pleasure.

In the corporeal world, too, when a person must give up some pleasure, it is considered an effort. For example, if a person enjoys rest, and for some reason must give up his rest and do something, this is called “labor.”

He also shows us how, when the corporeal branch receives a reward, where it is rooted in the upper worlds. He shows us that the root of the reward extends from the Reflected Light—the desire to bestow that comes out of the Zivug de Hakaa that occurred between the upper light and the Masach and Aviut [coarseness] (see The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 4, Item 8). He writes, “The clothing Reflected Light comes out as a result of two forces.”

In spirituality, a Zivug de Hakaa means that if two things are opposite to one another, it is regarded as Hakaa [striking/beating]. This means that on the one hand, one truly wants that thing because he sees that it will give him immense pleasure, but on the other hand, he overcomes and does not receive it because he wants equivalence of form.

Indeed, there are two desires here: 1) One’s desire to receive pleasure, and 2) his desire for equivalence of form. And of those two, a new thing is born, called “clothing Reflected Light.” With this force, he can later obtain the upper abundance because this Reflected Light is the appropriate Kli for reception of the bounty.

In other words, with this Kli, he has two things: 1) He receives the pleasure that is found in the upper abundance, which comes from the thought of creation, to do good to His creations. 2) At the same time, he finds himself in equivalence of form, which is the second discernment that he has upon reception of the abundance.

From all the above, we see that the whole reward is only the Reflected Light, which is the power of bestowal that the lower one receives from the upper one, which he calls “Reflected Light,” meaning what the lower one gives to the upper one. This means that the abundance that initially came from the Creator is called “Direct Light,” as it is written, “God created man straight.” It is as we learn, that the thought of creation was to do good to His creations, meaning for the lower ones to receive abundance, and this is called “straight.”

But the receivers of the abundance wish for equivalence of form, hence we have a correction called “Reflected Light.” This means that the receiver of the abundance does not receive it because he wishes to enjoy, but because he wishes to give to the upper one. In other words, as the upper wishes for the receiver to enjoy, the receiver of the abundance aims to return pleasure to the giver, meaning for the upper one to enjoy the fulfillment of His thought. It therefore follows that the reward is primarily the Reflected Light, meaning the power of bestowal that the lower one receives from the upper one.

But we should still understand why we say that the Kli, which is called “power of bestowal,” is the whole reward. After all, “reward” implies something that is received. We say, “I work for the pay,” or we say that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations, meaning that they will receive reward. And here we are saying that the reward is called “the power of giving.” And what do we understand? That the reward should be for a person to be imparted with attaining Godliness and the secrets of Torah, and so on. But why is he saying that the reward is in obtaining the power of giving, meaning the power of bestowal? Moreover, he is telling us that this extends from the upper root, called “Reflected Light.”

There is a known rule that the cow wants to nurse more than the calf wants to suckle. It therefore follows that the Creator wishes to give to the creatures more than the creatures wish to receive. So who is inhibiting? We must remember the Tzimtzum occurred so that the creatures would have equivalence of form. This is a correction to prevent the bread of shame, which extends from our root because the Creator is about bestowal and not reception, for He has no needs and there is no such thing as reception in Him. Thus, according to the rule that exists in our nature—that each branch wishes to resemble its root—when the lower one must carry out an action that is not present in the root, he feels unpleasantness.

It follows that one does not need to do anything to receive abundance, which is light and pleasure, since the Creator wants to give to the creature more than the creature wants to receive. However, the creature has no Kli in which to enjoy the pleasures that he will be given, due to the shame. It follows that the only reward we need is the Kli, which is called “the power of bestowal.” Thus, all we need are Kelim [plural of Kli], and not lights, and this is why the reward is primarily the power of bestowal.

However, to obtain that Kli, called “the desire to bestow,” we need a desire, meaning to feel that we need this Kli. This is why we must first engage in Torah and Mitzvot in Lo Lishma, and this is our labor—to see that everything we do is for self-benefit, without any intention to bestow.

And then we see that we need the power of bestowal, and we want a reward for our work—that the Creator will give us this reward—the desire to bestow. And when we have that power, we will be able to receive the delight and pleasure that is already available and for which we don’t need to work at all because the Creator gives it. But for a person to rise from degree to degree, he must acquire the power of bestowal each time, and then nothing else is missing.

Reader: Now we'll move on to the lesson from March 20, 2003.

M. Laitman: (46:01) We heard the article from volume 5, “The Rungs of the Ladder,” page 244, "Concerning Bestowal." The Creator created the will to receive, existence from absence. And we must accept this as some kind of a burden on ourselves. We have to imagine ourselves, let's try one time to imagine ourselves this way. We are completely entirely like the Creator. We exist in the desire to bestow. He and us are truly in adhesion, in equivalence, equal. There is no difference between us. And then comes some special power called the evil inclination, concealment, the will to receive, and it starts more and more to settle on us and distance us from the Creator. Forcefully, more and more until it truly pushes us to the farthest place. The lowest place, farthest from the Creator. This is the matter of creation. The lower we go down, seemingly this force is rejecting us, pushing us, pushing, pushing then certainly we lose the feelings, the qualities, the pleasures, everything. And when we are in the lowest possible place then we feel how much the coarseness of this evil inclination truly is sitting on us, such a heaviness, such a weight. And then certainly, if we feel where we were and what a burden of this evil inclination I now have upon me distancing me from the Creator, then certainly my reward would be to get rid of it and to push it back a little bit, to throw it away. This is what we call to refine myself of it, and once again to return to the state I had before. In such a way, maybe it's easier to understand that the reward is a vessel of bestowal, to return the vessel of bestowal, to the reflected light. This is what we need.

This means that if we accept this notion that creation distances us from the Creator and we need to refine it, then certainly reflected light is the reward.

What is the problem with this picture that I painted? The problem is that this picture is imaginary, not emotional. I can depict such a thing for a moment in my imagination, but I do not feel it. I have no records from the state of Ein Sof where there He and I are truly one. And later on, some evil inclination comes and it starts to distance me away from Ein Sof, to repel me, to push me outwards. If we had such records, Ein Sof versus me now, then I would feel this whole weight of the will to receive that is truly laid upon me. I would feel this entire distance, how much it is truly like a spring pushing me away from Ein Sof. Then the reward and the punishment and the exertion would be clear to me, everything would then be clear.

M. Laitman: (51:35) If everything would be so clear, why is it bad? It is bad because I am now under the evil inclination. It's not that some foreign body fell on me and it is now controlling me and it distanced me from Ein Sof. So, it turns out that now it is ruling me and I am no longer aware of these records from Ein Sof. And if it is controlling me, if I would feel Ein Sof and the records, it doesn't matter, but the records of spirituality under the control of the evil inclination then I would want to attain Ein Sof inside of the evil inclination, inside of the will to receive. And then I would move away from Ein Sof to this world with my own desire. Not by coercion that He did it to me against my will, but I myself would have wanted to receive Ein Sof in my vessels of reception. This means in my state, in my degree, this is already called a Klipa, a shell.

This means that the reason why we have concealment is the concealment doesn't allow us to be a shell. And even though I do not see the true state and I can't truly yearn for it, but at least I'm not drawn to the evil. What does it mean that I'm not drawn to the evil? I'm not thinking about receiving spirituality in order to receive in the vessels of reception. And each time that I make some effort, then the spiritual awareness comes to me according to my degree, according to how much I'll be able to attain the vessel of bestowal. This means that first I have to work on the vessels, and then I attain the fillings. And my work then becomes to receive the vessels as a reward. You're not asking, and so I cannot speak.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (55:23) How is it possible that pleasure is the addition of a vessel? You're saying that we receive vessels of bestowal. He also writes it in the end of the article, “and from that, as I grow, I receive more vessels of bestowal.” So what's the filling then?

M. Laitman: What is he asking? He is asking if my reward is a vessel. And every addition that I receive, it's an addition to the vessel. The vessel means desire. The vessel means a deficiency. If I receive an additional deficiency each time, then I feel more emptiness, right? So is this called a reward? Is this what we're advancing towards? Who is it good for?

In the vessel of bestowal, there's no deficiency, there's no lack. The lack is only to bestow. What does it mean, a vessel of bestowal? That it wants to bestow, right? To bestow? On that, there was no restriction. On that, there's no limitation. This is always possible. Therefore, we cannot say that the vessel of bestowal is empty. There's no such thing as an empty vessel of bestowal if it is a vessel. That is, if I have a will to receive with a screen that wants to give, then I can give. I have no problem with that. I have nothing to say about the filling. I have no reason to think about it or to be concerned about it. Because my filling is bestowal in and of itself. The act of bestowal is the filling of the vessel of bestowal.

Well, imagine that yourself again, a mother bestowing to the child, and the child, thank God, is healthy, and he wants to eat everything that she prepared. And she gives him this porridge and the child eats. What else does the mother need? What else does she need? I'm asking you, is there anything else besides this deed that she does? Is there anything else that fills her?

Student: She wants to give more.

M. Laitman: Okay, that's another vessel, an additional vessel. I'm talking about the vessel we have. She is now giving the child something to eat and the child eats. Well, does she have more desire? Does she need some other filling? What filling does she need besides the act of bestowal?

Student: That she will see that she's enjoying it. I don't know.

M. Laitman: If he's already receiving it from her, then that's it. So what are you asking? Meaning, the vessel of bestowal enjoys, is filled from having this correction, that it's capable of bestowing. That's why there are no limitations on bestowal. You can always be filled and only be concerned with more and more and more.

Student: This way it's easier to think about it. What you talked about in the beginning, I couldn't hear any of it.

M. Laitman: Well, that's it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (59:19) So what is, what is light?

M. Laitman: What is the light? That is called the light.

Student: The vessel is light?

M. Laitman: The vessel is the light. Very correct, the vessel is the light, yes. For you, the vessel is the vessel, and the light is what's inside of it. Oh, uh-huh. And in an act of bestowal, it's not that way. What? Light is called pleasure. If I give someone, and that is my entire desire to give, and I give, then from that my desire is full.

Student: What do you give?

M. Laitman: What do you give? You give what you want. If I have the possibility to give...

Student: Is the pleasure from giving not seemingly a desire to receive? Just like, uh...

M. Laitman: We are talking about the desire to give that is not egoistic. We're talking about to bestow in order to bestow, and not to bestow in order to receive, yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:00:43) This truly sounds good in theory, but each time that it comes in some kind of a feeling, such rejection comes out of it, that it burns, it's impossible to stand against it.

M. Laitman: What you're saying is, when I think about bestowal, I receive a certain rejection from it, yes?

Student: Absolutely.

M. Laitman: Such a rejection that I cannot tolerate. I can't hear about it. I have a certain... I'm disgusted by it. Now, first of all, feeling is feeling. You can't say about the feeling that it's true or false. Truth or false, you can say according to your intellect, but according to feeling, you could say yes or no. It's there or not. It's there? Yes. That's it. So now we just need to approach this feeling and to analyze it, yes? We need to check, to critique it and see, is it okay? Is it not okay? Why yes? Why not? But the phenomenon is a phenomenon. It's there.

The fact that I feel that when I speak of bestowal, it's bad for me from it. I don't want it. That is already a true feeling, meaning I've already come to a state in which my nature and this subject of bestowal are truly two contradicted matters. So much so that I hate bestowal. I don't want to hear. Yes, I hate it. Well, that is already a determination of truth, meaning I now feel that I only want to receive. And for bestowal, I don't want a thing. Very good.

What to do next? If, let's say, I increase more, and more, and more my toil, my labor. Before that, I didn't really feel that this topic of bestowal was so hated upon me. It comes as a consequence of my study, my labor, my thought, and all the events that have happened to me. But if I were to increase my exertion now, and even more and more, we see that quantitative things become qualitative matters, meaning that's when not a better and better or greater feeling will come to me, more rejection, disregard from bestowal. But rather, I have some kind of feeling, another feeling in defining this state. Maybe, let's say, if I study and receive an impression for the books and for the society and for my life as well, that bestowal, maybe I don't want it, but it's probably a necessary thing. A little. I feel that probably. The real world is built according to that principle. So I will already think that if life is eternal… I'm talking, you hear, within the desire to receive, if life is eternal and they depend on the desire to bestow, adhesion with the Creator, the feeling of pleasures, disconnect from this life that, what's the meaning of our lives, et cetera, but if it all depends on the feeling of the spiritual life, and the feeling of spiritual life depends on vessels of bestowal, that maybe it's good that I should have vessels of bestowal, and I'll feel good by that.

M. Laitman: (01:05:15) So, I start to already think, you know, the fact that I'm in vessels of reception, maybe it's bad. Maybe this is where all the bad comes from to me. From this, I have bad feelings, disappointments, all kinds of things from me being in the vessels of reception. If I were in vessels of bestowal, I would be free like a bird. So maybe I already begin to determine my state differently. Where vessels of bestowal are good, and vessels of reception are bad; only I don't have them. Then I begin to determine my state as bad. That's called the recognition of evil, where reception is bad. Why? I feel bad; it's bad for me from it. If I was less of an egoist, want less, less in everything that I have from the qualities of this world, I would be less, I'd suffer less. Yes? So if so, my nature is bad. I've reached the next stage, but in this nature where it's bad, I see what will I do with it. Each time I try to disconnect from it, I'm told, you know, "Do you want to feel good? Start thinking about vessels of bestowal all the time. How it's good to be in them, how it's good to be adhered to the Creator, with the Creator, to bestow upon others. You won't feel any troubles, it'll all be good," so I start to constantly yearn for it. So much so that I am truly more, and more, and more, I'm in it, more ready to work, to invest. Friends, society operate upon me in this way. I see that it's as if I'm escaping to this thought about the Creator, where it's for me like a shelter or a refuge. It's bad for me, I run to it. Well, at least that in my life is filled with all kinds of sufferings and darkness. Then just Baal HaSulam writes, the Creator shines for him there between the, like from the heavens, a little some ray of light, ah, gives me a little vitality. And then I determined that truly, certainly, probably to yearn for the Creator, to be adhered to Him, to this idea of to bestow, is a certain place to be saved. When I constantly think about this idea of to bestow, and how this is truly my refuge, I begin to respect this quality. So much so that I start to love it in and of its own. It begins to become big in my eyes, important in my eyes, the quality of to bestow. Even though I don't have it, but this begins to be already some ideal, where it's truly, this is something not of this world, I don't know if it's possible, maybe it's altogether imaginary, but this is something; without this, only in the opposite, in the desire to receive, it certainly is not life.

This is called having a grace of holiness. And from this, there comes to me like an inner drive that I want to do something for the Creator. I feel like it, you know. In other words, the act of bestowal, the act itself, begins to be important in my eyes. There is some kind of special value to it in me, for me, and it's clear that I cannot do anything. But in my eyes there is already some importance to such an act that if previously I could do it, it was probably something. How should I put it? It was probably something very, very top quality. And then a person begins to, bit by bit, it all takes years, I'm telling you.

M. Laitman: (01:11:12) So, if you have no time, you can get off the train right now, and afterwards, you begin to think that if I really do come to such an act, this is simply, it's like the signature of my life. It's the only good conclusion that can be. And this is already the real Lo Lishma, not for her sake. All of this, you depict to yourself in vessels of reception. This is before the barrier, it's before there are corrections, but you still begin to depict bestowal in a way that it is appealing to you, and the depiction of bestowal before you is already a depiction of actual bestowal, although it's still in vessels of reception; there is still no correction of a screen and reflected light. This is why it's called Lo Lishma, not for her sake. But it's already Lo Lishma, from which we come to Lishma, to for her sake, when we want to come out of Egypt, when we go to fight against Pharaoh, when we say, like the spies say, for example, The land is very good, but who can attain it? All kinds of things like that, but it's already good, the act of bestowal is good, meaning we begin to decipher more and more correctly, to open the words, what spirituality means, what the Creator means, what light means, the right vessels, that it's all only bestowal; there is no other word. Along with saying all kinds of words, we begin to feel more their inner content, which is giving, although there is still no connection to giving, but the grace of it becomes more and more depicted, pictured.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:14:17) The problem is that every time that it turns out that if I think that something good will come to me from this. I know that were not talking about vessels of bestowal then, because I'm thinking in such terms that some good will come to me from this.

M. Laitman: Of course. For everything that I said inside of me, I think about them because something good will come out of it to me. Some benefit, of course. To come closer to the Creator, to do an act of bestowal. I think about it as good. What does it mean, good? As a filling, a satisfaction for my vessels of reception. This is why it's still called Lo Lishma, not for her sake. But I am already thinking about an act of bestowal. I'm not thinking about bestowing in order to receive, that the more I give, the more I will get from Him because He is great. So it's worthwhile for me to give Him gifts and all kinds of things. It'll be worth it. He will compensate me afterwards, and even more so. Inside, I have the calculation, but in my eyes, it doesn't show; I don't see it. This is why it's called not intentionally, but it's still regarded as being in the vessels of reception because deep down, on the bottom layer, of course, there is still a calculation of some benefit, some profit. That if there weren't that, I would not be able to think about bestowal. But because on the top layer, the one that is in front of me, before my eyes, I think about Him, and I yearn for Him, and I want to give Him, even though it's still deep within, there's still a calculation for myself, necessarily. But before what is revealed to me is that I love Him and I want Him, to me, this is called being in Lo Lishma that brings to Lishma, for her sake. I have a two-layer existence. On the bottom layer, of course, there are calculations for myself, and there's nothing I can do. But through my labor, the work with the society, with dissemination, with bestowal as much as I can, with giving as much as I can, I created like a top layer, and by this, I lifted the act of bestowal, the ideal of bestowal, I elevated it in my eyes as great, even though it sits on vessels of reception. But in my eyes, it's become something great, meaning my top layer of bestowal, and my bottom layer, just imagine these two layers; so my bottom layer is the natural vessels of reception, but that's already Lo Lishma, that brings to Lishma. Whereas if I simply want to use the Creator, I'll give Him a few gifts, what do you need from me, let's do some business, right? This is not called having two layers. This is considered giving Him in order to receive. It's simply an act that doesn't… I don't appreciate the act of bestowal more than the act of reception. I don't create a top layer that's elevated above the bottom layer. I don't make an effort to value bestowal. No, I simply use this ability to bestow in order to receive, and so on.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:19:12) What is the effort to value bestowal?

M. Laitman: The labor to appreciate bestowal, this is, Rabash writes in several articles, it is, habit becomes a second nature, and what the public says becomes important to me. Through all kinds of means at my disposal, I increase the importance of bestowal in my eyes, and there are many ups and downs in this, in recognizing it. But, what's the question?

Student: Is that the work on the first or the second layer?

M. Laitman: I don't work on the bottom layer. My bottom layer is my will to receive. I work only on the importance of bestowal. We started with saying that he hates bestowal, that to him it's repulsive, it's disgusting to him. Very well. This already, now he already distinguishes that he has two layers in him. Now, if, despite being disgusted with it, he continues studying and doing all kinds of activities, he elevates it, nevertheless, more and more until his attitude toward it changes. So, even though he hates it, he begins to feel that it's important. It's important, but I don't have it, until all kinds of… a person feels all kinds of feelings toward it until it becomes a grace of holiness, which is, yes, there is something to it. I appreciate it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:21:34) Do I need to set that state as a goal for myself? That I define the goal, that I, that upper layer that I want to attain, or can I look at the goal that I don't want to remain in the lower layer, and this is what causes me to want to integrate?

M. Laitman: A person is in two states. At one time, he's attached to the top layer, that he has to have bestowal, and he wants to increase it, and the Creator is important to him, his friends are important to him, the society, and the study, and everything, and he works on increasing the desire to bestow, perhaps maybe more. Another time, he is in a fall, and he is attached to his bottom layer, to the will to receive. So, when he's attached to the will to receive, he has a different style of work to check how much the will to receive is against him, how it closes his eyes, how being in it is not good, that you want to rise from it as quickly as possible.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:23:01) The lower layer, it's clear. It's what begins and motivates me to search for something, and how do I from that see what is that state, what happens? It's always seemingly clear to me, it's always present. But the upper layer, it's always blurry, less present. He writes in the article, there are people who supposedly have this clear goal before their eyes. So a person needs to ask all the time, what is the goal? Question is, does it matter that it seems that he, why is it not good to remain in that desire to receive, that I only suffer in this state? This is what motivates me, or must I always look and search forcefully for that upper layer that will be clear to me, that we need to reach a state for it to be as clear to me as the lower layer?

M. Laitman: A person cannot determine his states, and you're asking, how do I behave in this state or in that state? There's a reason why we are told, whatever you can do, do, because you don't know exactly what state you're in, and of course, your scrutiny is whether they are correct or not, and the results you will reach, and the decisions you make, and the treatment you give to yourself, in this or in that, you're simply told, just press on the gas. The wheel is not in your hands. We're like a train; we are on the tracks, and that's it. Don't think you're changing anything here other than your relation to it, your attention, the necessity you obtained through the society and the Creator. This is what increases your speed, and increasing the speed changes how you feel on the path.

Either you're pushed by the negative force, or you yearn for what is desirable, and you really feel that you are drawn to the good. So, increasing the speed changes your feeling, but other than that, you're not doing anything. You can only agree and want, and really kind of run toward the same goal ahead of the Creator. This you can do, but you're not changing anything here. There's a reason why we're told to do whatever you want. Just do this is one thing. Use the society however you can, but use it. Make the society give you as much inspiration as possible. That's it. You don't need more than inspiration. No, this inspiration is not quite directed and connected, and it doesn't have this or that mixture. No, you don't have it. You cannot know anything here or determine anything. Just want more. That's it. As he says, I prefer to die than to live. I'm lovesick. That's it. On the contrary, they say you're like someone who's infatuated with love, you know, mindless, just like that. Because until you cross the barrier, even afterwards, you don't see anything. You can't distinguish anything. But until you cross the barrier, what can you even... It's impossible to criticize, to make any critique, you know, it's like chemistry. You take all kinds of materials and check what I'm dealing with. Let's say, yes, I have something here. I was given some liquid, now I want to check what it is. So you have several materials through which I can check what it is, what it's got, what it doesn't have, etc. But before the barrier, I have nothing in my hands, no tool with which to check, no intellect with which to analyze things. This is why our work should be to receive the power of bestowal, period. What is it? However I imagine it. That's the reward. According to the process I just depicted, you see that a person can come to a state where receiving the power of bestowal is to him, really, a gift. It's called a gift. The giving of the Torah. Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:28:26) This is the hands, and the feet, and the internal attitude. How can I be impressed by a person's action and the intention? I don't see it. They say that from the society it's possible, from the books, to be impressed by these internal attitudes, but we see only actions, and these are really different things.

M. Laitman: I don't understand you. How can you be impressed by actions from the intention to bestow over a friend?

Student: That's also possible.

M. Laitman: Let's say I look at you. We don't, you don't know, so they don't know, so I'll tell you. Two days ago, you took people home until 11 p.m. I saw that your wife yelled at you, she beat you on the head. Yesterday, you finished work here at 10:30 at night. You got home, I guess you also didn't get any nice welcoming. What happened today? Also, I look at you and think, either he's an idiot, or he doesn't care. What kind of calculation a person is making in his life? This must be important to him; it's important to him, and it's important to another person besides you. I saw several other people, you see, another person came. In other words, people have… I see people who want something from life; you cannot say that they just don't feel good at home, they have nothing else to do in life. As much as we want to, I still cannot simply dismiss it. Even when you look at it superficially, you see it from the outside, you're impressed. So when I make a little bit of a calculation, this gives me some serious point, and that brings me an intention. I don't know. To me, it gives a lot of strength. Look, look at him; he came from Australia. What was he missing there? He feels good here, I understand. But in truth? So, in other words, I see that there is some value to it. If people can really immerse themselves, I could say, ah, it's nothing, a thousand people in the world, but a million people instead of seven billion, what would it do? It depends how I look at it. It depends how I look at it. It already depends on the person. Work on the importance depends on the person. I look at you, and you say, we have a billion, 300 million Chinese, a billion 300 million Indians, on the one hand. On the other hand, I keep hearing: what Indians, what Chinese, I see a million Jews are making all the noise. You see, it depends how you look at it. There's quality, and there's quantity, and quantity. With quantity, you can't do anything in this world. As he says, there is gravel, and there are diamonds. Quality depends on you. Bring this diamond to a primitive tribe, they'll test it, it shines. Give it a piece of glass from a bottle, it shines even more.

M. Laitman: (01:33:21) So, it depends. The importance, this is all we basically gain from the labor. I need to work on the importance of this special thing that I chose, so I will constantly increase its importance more and more and more. This is called advertising. This is why I need the society. I came to a society, I have something this small. I want the society to give it importance. I will constantly look only at this, so they have to talk only about this and appreciate only this, and make tremendous efforts only so it'll change in them, and because of them, the appreciation in me will change. Appreciation of this. This is what I need.

This is all of the free choice, to take something that in my world, in front of me, is completely worthless—bestowal. It's even embarrassing to talk about bestowal in front of people. Another nutcase came here?

Take this idea and begin to nurture it more, and more, and more, until there is a society that can work for this and exert for it until the world grows a little smarter, and until it understands that reception only gives us trouble, and bestowal is actually the only importance. So, you say, what acts are there here? Or the other way around. I see actions, but where are the intentions? Every act, you have to place the intention: what am I doing this for? Exalt this small thing, this small idea to make it great in my eyes. I live in a world where all the lies of this world, I accept them as serious. The biggest lie is our life, that it's got any value. The biggest lie. A beast, at least, it's eaten, someone enjoys it; they can keep living with something. From a person, a human being… that's the biggest absurd. If he's not connected to the goal, he is completely worthless. He's even, he's got negative value, negative worth. We have to change our values, and this is done only by the society. There's nothing else to work on. For this abstract idea of bestowal, the Creator, adhering to Him, being similar to Him, such things that you tell the world about it, 20 years ago, you couldn't even talk about it. You couldn't talk about it. Everyone would look at you: he's insane, what is he talking about? Today, there begins to be some recognition of it, a little bit; such times are coming. But for us, here, it is mandatory to have it constantly in front of us.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:37:03) And there's a certain tendency to not relate correctly to a friend's actions, even sometimes to disregard it. So then, does one miss out on all the reward there?

M. Laitman: We learn how to relate to a friend; we'll talk about it more generally, I don't want to now talk about the society.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:37:27) The concealment does not allow us to be a shell, a Klipa. How for the desire to receive not to be a Klipa.

M. Laitman: The concealment doesn't let us be a Klipa, a shell. It's like the Rabash says, the thief runs ahead of you and says, "Catch the thief," because then you would yearn to bestow in order to receive more. I don't mind giving a gift to someone great. I send a gift to Shimon Peres, and then he sends me back a catalogue. Is that bad? No. We'll see. So what do we do? So, we see that the fact that the Creator is hidden is for our benefit; so that we will not be dependent, will not be kind of chained. We are purportedly independent from His greatness. We don't see Him and can determine by ourselves our relation to Him. And then I can appreciate Him not because He is the origin of the pleasures, that I want only them and I live only from them, basically, but that when it's hidden from me, I can determine my relation to Him—not to the pleasures that are in Him. And until I determine my relation to Him, I will not discover that there are pleasures in Him. It is salvation. He saves me in this way. Do you understand? Let's say you, you correct, you fix all our cars. So, think about him, you know, he's a good guy. If I need a car, he fixes it for me. And to someone else, he also fixes it, and to someone else, he also fixes it. So, we need such a person in our society. We benefit from him. You all agree that we should have such a person? We all do. Great. Do you want it to be this way? That we will appreciate you only because you can give to us? Or do you want us to appreciate you as a personality? Not because you fix our cars, but because there's something in you that you yearn for some goal, that you are a human being, that we want you as a human being even if we didn't need you to fix our cars. We want you as an individual. What can you do? But we benefit from your corrections, from your fixing. So what do you do? So, from this day onward, stop fixing cars. Let's see how people will change, how they will look at you. That's it. Look at him. He doesn't want us. He doesn't want anymore. He doesn't want anymore. He doesn't do anything. What do we need him for? Eh, let him go away. You see? In other words, we can play with our will to receive and see in this way to what we are biased, and then climb on the ladder of the values of appreciation more, and more, and more to begin to see what I appreciate more, a result that is good to my will to receive, or is there some kind of a spiritual charge in a person and I have to appreciate him for this, et cetera. Toward the friends, it's a problem on the one hand. On the other hand, it's not a problem. It gives us a possibility to connect, and then begin to appreciate. But with the Creator, if it were revealed, oh-ho, there we wouldn't be able to emerge from a calculation of the will to receive ever. So, are you continuing to fix our cars or not?

Student: I think the desire, the Creator sends a desire to receive.

M. Laitman: To receive controls. But in our society, we can play with the will to receive by closing the pleasures, shutting them away, and then we see how our will to receive begins to jump. We give it, or we don't give it; let's see it. Then, what do I need to appreciate, this or that? This is called a person having to perform the restriction first, and then the screen, reflected light, in short. Now too, we can do some exercises in this.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:43:08) When you speak about disconnecting from this quality of bestowal, you spoke about a state where a person goes to that supposedly bestowing by thinking outside of himself, because it's better for him. This transition is made, as you said, out of recognizing how bad I am, my most despicable and weakest state. How can I find fuel or joy in this state?

M. Laitman: I feel bad in my life, and then out of the bad in my life, I yearn for the good in spirituality. Spirituality is good. Baal HaSulam writes that the fact that the Creator opens Himself as a ray of light out of the cracks and gives that to a person, by this, there is no greater help that the Creator gives to a person on the one hand. On the other hand, it's an egoistic appeal or attraction. Let's say I feel bad. Ah, what is this world from every direction: income tax, at work, in the society, my health, you name it, from every direction. Of course, if I run to There's none else besides Him, and I begin to just define my situation, that there's someone who is making it, and He's good and does good, so He probably has a good intention, thank God. So, it becomes, you know, a little easier, you know. Maybe at some point it'll be good. If not here, then in the next world, who knows? Regular religious calculations. Of course, they're egoistic. What are you asking about this?

Student: I'm not asking about the psychological states. I'm asking about what you spoke earlier: that from hatred of bestowal, I go to a state where I see bestowal as a good thing, even though I have no strength.

M. Laitman: From this, I begin to understand that bestowal is good for my sake, until, sure, because I am saved from the troubles. But you're saying this is still an egoistic calculation. Right, it's egoistic. But out of this, I begin to acquire an appreciation that bestowal is good. Bestowal, in my eyes, is already higher than reception; there, it's good.

Student: Because I'm weak?

M. Laitman: Because I'm weak. So what?

Student: But how to find fuel and enjoy work in a state where I'm also not weak?

M. Laitman: Wait a minute. Because I found that there is something good in some place. My situation already improves. I don't understand you. What else should be, for now?

Student: What needs to be? When I'll yearn for it.

M. Laitman: That I will yearn? Oh, now you're speaking correctly. So what should happen is that I will yearn for it. Either I'm given more troubles from above so I begin to yearn for it more, or I begin to think that this is really something good. I should yearn for it more. Then why do I need to yearn for it more if the troubles don't justify more yearning? I appreciate the form of bestowal, let's say, by 10 kilograms, because it can compensate for 10 kilos of trouble. Why do I need to appreciate it in 20 kilos if I don't have 20 kilos of trouble opposite it? If I don't appreciate it now as 10 kilos, then I'm given 20 kilos of troubles so I will appreciate it against my will. And if I do it myself, this is called the path of Torah, not the path of suffering. And how can I appreciate it as 20 kilos? 20 kilos, I don't have troubles against that. Only the society, only the society can do this for you. Instead of the troubles, be impressed by the society, that this is something great, bestowal, that's it.

I feel that I am weak, and I have a will to receive that feels troubled, and the escape to the desire to bestow brings me something good. It puts out the troubles; quenches the troubles. This is the situation. I don't understand what you're saying. You're weak. You're strong.

Student: I'm saying that to carry out this disconnection, you can do it a thousand ways. Why would I choose specifically this way to disconnect when I need to work for that? It's not a problem to disconnect in this world. I could put a bullet in my head, or drugs, or disconnect.

M. Laitman: I don't understand you. You still haven't gone through these things. You're not speaking from experience. Not from experience.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:48:38) As we said earlier, there are exercises. How is it really possible, these exercises? We spoke about the intention, not restricting the desire.

M. Laitman: More, please. I don't like when we talk about work; not about philosophy. Very simple. Who am I? What am I? You're not speaking from reality. Not from reality. Not from experience. This is why we have a problem understanding one another: from which point you are speaking, from what you are speaking, but I can scrutinize it in a different way. This is all theoretical. Very nice. But it's philosophizing. But not out of... But it'll come.

Reader: Now we'll share our impressions from the lesson and what we're taking from it to realize in the Ten.

Song: (01:55:51)