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

Daily Morning Lesson: June 24, 2026

Part 1: Rabash. What Is, “The Righteous Become Apparent through the Wicked,” in the Work? Article No. 15, (1989)

Reader: Hello friends! In the first part of the lesson, we'll enter a lesson with the Rav from April 2002. It's based on the article, What is, The Righteous Become Apparent through the Wicked, in the Work? This is from The Writings of Rabash, you can find it in the study materials. We'll read the article together in the Tens, we have nineteen minutes for this.

Reading: (00:55) What Is, “The Righteous Become Apparent through the Wicked,” in the Work?

Article No. 15, 1989

It is written in The Zohar (Shemot [Exodus], Item 370), “‘My Beloved is mine and I am His, He pastures among the lilies.’ As the lilies have thorns in them, the Creator leads His world with righteous and wicked. As the lilies would not persist without the thorns, the righteous would not be distinguishable without the wicked.”

This implies that we need the wicked just so that the righteous will be distinguishable. The question is, Who needs this distinguishing? This cannot be said with regard to the Creator, as He knows all the secrets. With regard to the world, it is written, “Walk humbly with the Lord your God,” meaning a person should hide his actions from people. Thus, it means with regard to the person himself.

The question is, Why does one need to recognize the righteous through the wicked? Why do I need this distinction? That is, what does knowing and distinguishing between righteous and wicked do? Is it not enough that he does what the righteous do, but he also needs to know the distinction in the righteous specifically through the wicked, as though otherwise it is impossible to be righteous?

It known that in the work, everything is said within one body. That is, both the wicked and the righteous are within the same body. Therefore, the question is, For what purpose are wicked and righteous required in the same body, as The Zohar says, that “the Creator leads His world with righteous and wicked”? Since every person is a small world, it would probably be better if He led His world only through righteous. Why do I need the wicked? The answer is that it is in order for the righteous to be distinguishable. Thus, we need to understand the benefit in distinguishing the righteous through the wicked, meaning what we gain by this distinction.

The thing is that it is known that there is the practice of Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], and the intention of Mitzvot, meaning what one wants for one’s work when exerting in Torah and Mitzvot. We learned that there are two manners of reward in this: 1) Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], 2) Lishma [for Her sake].

Lo Lishma means that one should be rewarded for his work both in this world and in the next world. As The Zohar says, this work is not considered the essence, as The Zohar says (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Item 190): “Fear that is Lo Lishma is not the main fear.” (In Item 191) It says, “The main fear is that one should fear one’s Master because He is great and ruling, and all is regarded as nothing before Him, and he should place his will in that place, which is called ‘fear.’”

From this it follows that there are two kinds of intentions while performing actions, both in learning Torah and in performing Mitzvot. The work of the general public is in order to receive reward, and the work of individuals is for the sake of the Creator, and their reward is if they can serve the King. That is, their whole pleasure, which gives them fuel so they can work in order to bestow, is to feel that they are bringing contentment to the King and are praising and thanking the King for giving them the thought and desire to work for Him and not to receive any other reward for their work.

They say that in order to receive reward, “We do not need to feel the greatness of the King. Rather, we need to consider the greatness and importance of the reward we will receive if we observe the Torah and Mitzvot.” But the Creator can stay for them at the same level of greatness and importance as He was for them at the beginning of their work.

However, if their intention is to bring contentment to the Creator, then if they want to increase the work, they must increase the greatness of the Creator, since to the extent of His greatness, to that extent they can annul before Him and do everything they do only for the sake of the Creator. It is as The Zohar says about the verse, “Her husband is known at the gates,” each according to “what he assumes in his heart.”

Therefore, in order to have fuel to work, those who want to work for the sake of the Creator must try each day to exert to obtain faith in the greatness of the Creator, since the greatness of the Creator is what compels them to work for Him, and this is all the pleasure they derive from their work.

Hence, those people who sometimes think that they can settle for the measure of faith in the Creator that they have, and think that they are already righteous and do not need to increase the faith in the greatness of the Creator, when the Creator behaves with them as righteous, meaning gives them some nearing, and they receive a desire and yearning and taste in the work, they think that they are already complete people who do not lack faith, to believe in the greatness of the Creator. They have no need to advance, except in actions. But the greatness of the Creator that they have is enough for them. This is regarded as the Creator behaving with them as with righteous.

Therefore, in order for a person to progress on the path of the Creator, to be rewarded with all his work being for the sake of the Creator, and now he feels that he is in a state of ascent, what more should he do? For this reason, the Creator leads His world with wicked. That is, at that time the Creator gives him thoughts of wicked—that it is not worthwhile to work for Him, but only for himself. By this, he suffers a descent and thinks that the descent he has received is not because it was given to him so he would advance in the path of the Creator, to be rewarded with knowledge of Kedusha [holiness]. Rather, he thinks that he regressed because he cannot work in the manner of individuals, but needs to work like the general public. And since he has departed from the general public, he is left empty handed from here and from there, since he cannot return to the general public.

For this reason, in that state, a person stands between heaven and earth, and feels that his situation is worse than that of the rest of the people. At that time, he can ask the Creator with all his heart, and pray as it is written, “Pardon me, O Lord, for I am wretched. Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed, and You, O Lord, how long?” That is, how long will I stay in a situation where I feel that my condition is worse than any other person, that I have no grip on spirituality.

For this reason, he has no other choice but to believe what is written, “For You hear the prayer of every mouth.” Baal HaSulam explained that a person must believe that the Creator hears the prayer of every mouth, meaning even the worst mouth in the world, of which there cannot be lowlier and worse in the world. Still, the Creator hears him, as our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.”

He interprets about this in The Zohar: “He is given a holy soul.” It follows that the Creator gives him the thoughts of the wicked so he will be able to ask the Creator to help him. Otherwise, he will remain in the state he was in at the beginning of his work, and will remain this way for the rest of his life.

By this we can interpret what we asked, What does it mean that were it not for the wicked, the righteous would not be distinguishable? We asked, in whom do the righteous need to be distinguishable, and what is the purpose of this distinction? The answer is that it is because the Creator leads His world with righteous and wicked. But in this regard, we should also ask, Why does He need to lead His world with righteous and wicked? Would it not be enough to carry out the purpose of creation, to do good to His creations, if He led the world only with the righteous? It makes sense that if He led His world only with the righteous, it would be easier to carry out the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations. Thus, what are the wicked for?

The answer to this is that were it not for the wicked, the righteous would not be distinguishable. This means that the wholeness and greatness of the righteous would not be apparent—the degree that they achieve. Instead, the righteous would remain in the degree of the beginning of their work, and they would not make any progress in the degree of the righteous. For this reason, in order for the merit and greatness of the righteous to be apparent, He had to lead His world with righteous and with wicked. By sending the righteous to a person, the Creator brings one closer to the work of the Creator.

The person, if he did not suffer a descent, would be compelled to remain this way throughout his life, and he would make no progress in the mind of the Torah, where the delight and pleasure contained in the purpose of creation are concealed. The merit of the righteous would not be apparent, since for what purpose would he need a higher level?

Indeed, we must know that the merit of the righteous is as our sages said (at end of Okatzin), “The Creator is destined to bequeath each and every righteous 310 worlds, as was said, ‘To endow those who love Me with wealth, that I may fill their treasuries.’”

Therefore, in order to have a need to achieve the degree of “righteous,” and for their merit to be apparent, He had to lead His world with righteous and with wicked. It follows that in order for the righteous to be evident, wicked are also required, since precisely by leading His world with wicked, too, He gives the thoughts and desires of the wicked to a person, just as He gives the quality of righteous to a person. That is, He gives him the desire for self-love.

But this is done on purpose, so that man would know that the Creator does not want him to remain in the state that he understood the work of the Creator according to his mind at the time, in the beginning of his work in the manner of the individuals, when he assumed to himself what was the degree of the righteous. If the Creator did not behave with him in the manner of the wicked, meaning gave him thoughts and desires that are against the mind and heart, he would think that he is already at the degree of righteous, and the degree of righteous would remain in him in utter lowliness, since he would know that he has nothing to add.

This is regarded as “the Creator leading His world with the righteous,” giving man only the degree of a righteous, without feeling any deficiencies, that the Creator should give him a higher level in understanding the meaning of “righteous.” This is regarded as the righteous not being distinguishable, as was said, that the merit of the righteous is that he should come to obtain 310 worlds. He would have no need for this.

It is impossible to give a filling if there is no lack, since the person will not be able to keep the Klipot [shells/peels] from taking it into their own authority. Only the Klipot can gain from this, and this will damage the Kedusha, as our sages said, “Tzor [Tyre] was built only out of the ruin of the Jerusalem.” Hence, precisely when there is a lack, and he is given a filling for the lack, he knows how to be careful so that no benefit comes from this to the external ones.

It follows that a person must have faith in the sages and how they guide us, to believe in their worlds. He should not say that the fact that he constantly suffers descents comes because he is unworthy of achieving wholeness. Rather, all the descents come to him from above! It is in order for man to have a need to obtain all the NRNHY of his soul. It requires great strengthening to say that the Creator sends him the descents so he would overcome and work coercively. This is called “He is coerced until he,” the Creator, “says, ‘I want,’” as Baal HaSulam explained.

The spirit of the righteous is, as our sages said, "the Creator is destined to bequeath each and every righteous one 310 worlds, as was said, 'to endow those who love me with wealth, that I may fill their treasuries.'" Therefore, in order to have a need to achieve the degree of righteous, and for their merit to be apparent, He had to lead His world with the righteous and with the wicked. It follows that in order for the righteous to be evident, the wicked are also required, since precisely by leading His world with the wicked too, He gives the thoughts and desires of the wicked to a person, just as He gives the quality of righteousness to a person.

That is, the Creator gives one the desire for self-love. This is done on purpose, so that man would know that the Creator does not want him to remain in the state that he understood the work of the Creator according to his mind at the time, in the beginning of his work, in the manner of the individual, when he assumed to himself what the degree of the righteous was. And if the Creator did not behave with him in the manner of the wicked, meaning giving him thoughts and desires that are against the mind and heart, he would think that he is already at the degree of the righteous, and the degree of righteous would remain in him in utter lowliness, since he would know that he has nothing to add.

And this is regarded as the Creator leading His world with the righteous, giving man only the degree of the righteous, without feeling any deficiencies, that the Creator should give him a higher level in understanding the meaning of righteous, which is regarded as the righteous not being distinguishable, as was said. That the merit of the righteous is that he should come to obtain 310 worlds, but he would have no need for that. And it is impossible to give a feeling if there is no lack, since the person will not be able to keep it, and the Klipot, the shells, would take it into their own authority. Only the shells can gain from this, and this will damage the Kedusha, holiness. As our sages said, Tzur, Tyre, was built only out of the ruin of Jerusalem. Hence, precisely when there is a lack, and he is given a feeling for the lack, he knows how to be careful, so that no benefit comes from this to the external ones.

It follows that a person must have faith in the sages, and how they guide us, to believe in their words. You should not say that the fact that he constantly suffers descents comes because he is unworthy of achieving wholeness. Rather, all the descents come to him from above.

And it is in order for a man to have a need to obtain all the NRNHY of his soul. It requires great strengthening to say that the Creator sends him the descents so that he would overcome, and work under coercion. This is called, he is coerced until he, the Creator, says, "I want," as Baal HaSulam explained.

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Reader: We will continue to the recorded lesson from the 17th of April, 2002.

M. Laitman: (19:15) In these articles, when we read The Rungs of the Ladder—we read "What Is the Righteous Become Apparent Through the Wicked in the Work?" The will to receive, itself, that the Creator created – it has no character, it has nothing. It's just substance that feels fulfillment: with fulfillment it feels good, without fulfillment it feels bad. This is the unit of life, so to speak, and by that it is completely without any independence, without any self-identification. It's like some device and it's, say like a light bulb, you give it some voltage, it turns on, you stop the voltage, it turns off, very simple. How do you turn that inanimate thing which is completely devoid of any personal, independent personality, independent identity. How do you build its identity, its independence? That only happens by the work on it called, ups and downs; and it isn't the work of, in that will to receive, actually, but in a completely different attitude and different plane. The will to receive, here, is a kind of indication, a way to awaken this unit called will to receive, existence from absence. To awaken it to receive discernments, to begin to feel something that exists above it.

The Creator wants the will to receive to take on a certain character called righteous, so for that He influences him with the opposite called evil. Now, not righteous nor evil are things that were created and built into the will to receive. As it's written about the drop that is discerned to be the future man: it'll be smart, it'll be stupid, it'll be this – it'll be that – anything besides righteous and wicked. Because all those things don't come from the will to receive, it's not its qualities but only the person has to go through the path and feel how it's built in him. And it's the only thing that we need to exert with, to build on our own. Everything else which is already given into that drop, into that seed, besides righteous and wicked, meaning all of our qualities, traits, natural things we're born with, all of that we shouldn't pay attention to. That's just the general will to receive, the initial substance – existence from absence – there's nothing to do with it there.

M. Laitman: (23:59) Therefore, all of the life events that a person goes through over thousands of life cycles as he keeps coming back to this world, they happen in order to turn that will to receive into more sensitive – to bring it to a threshold of sensitivity. That this will to receive begins to build, all the will to receive because it feels some special other structure called relation to the Creator. That relation is, essentially, it comes down to a very seemingly simple task called unification. Meaning that a person is given negative feelings that happen in his will to receive and he has to unify them to the Creator. Then, he feels, as a result of that, on his will to receive, he feels a good feeling; so bad feeling or good feeling, here, is an indication. It's like a reference or like a scale to see whether he did this action, correctly, of justifying the Creator's action on him: did he manage to unify his life, what he is going through to the Creator or not? If he didn't succeed, he stays in feeling bad. The will to receive shows him. It's like this indicator on the device, you know? There is a green light and a red light that can turn on, that's how it is. If the will to receive feels bad, it indicates that it still didn't unify its life with the Creator. What it's facing, typically it's fears, anxieties, concerns, insecurities – all those things where he feels as a beast, a threat to his existence. If he is able to unify his existence to the Creator, then the feeling in the will to receive becomes good.

From here, we can understand what the Creator had to create the will to receive. This will to receive in us is a kind of a detector, kind of a sensor, detector, that finds what is our relationship to the Creator. This is why he says that the Creator sets up a kind of stressful life for us – bad from all sides – except for a certain slit, a certain place where He gives us an opportunity to contact Him and that gives a person some ray of light, some peacefulness. So that a person, necessarily, runs to that place to be saved from all the bad that he has, like peeking through the cracks.

M. Laitman: (29:11) Therefore, by the wicked, meaning that a person feels that he can't do with all the bad things that he feels in his will to receive, all the negative feelings, thoughts, he can't unify them to the Creator. They ultimately, these feelings, bring him such suffering that, bit by bit, he learns from that. That the solution is to escape the suffering, is to unify all these negative feelings to the Creator, that He is the cause and, by that, he is getting rid of the suffering, of the bad feelings. Now, this kind of approach is called Lo Lishma, meaning I have a bad life but if I link that to the Creator, I feel it is good; I need the Creator to feel good in my life. I use it in order to receive, this is Lo Lishma and from that Lo Lishma we later come to Lishma. When a person begins to recognize that his attitude to the Creator in this way is called evil. And he tries, bit by bit, it happens to him from above, of course. The person doesn't have the ability to act beyond what's in him.

Rather, by making use of the Creator, his connection to the Creator who has to bring him, to feel him, to ameliorate the suffering a little, this actual existential dread. By that, as we see, when the light enters the vessel, it gives the vessel its nature. And so it is what the person, even if he engages with Divinity in Lo Lishma, not for her sake, in order to sweeten his own life. Gradually, he begins to receive this grace of sanctity from it, that it's good to be connected to the Creator, not because I feel bad but in general. This too, of course, is Lo Lishma, not for her sake, until he transitions to the state of Lishma, for her sake where he already wants to be connected to the Creator with no connection to himself, meaning if he feels good or bad. Then, it's the opposite, actually, he's interested in feeling bad as this will serve as a means for him by which to connect to the Creator; and not in order to feel good then but in order to be adhered to the Creator. He requires that bad, that evil and that is called receiving in order to bestow and a person gradually shifts from Lo Lishma to Lishma.

M. Laitman: (33:25) From here, we see that the will to receive itself and the sensations of good and bad that exist in the will to receive, the Creator created this something from nothing – there was no need. But only in order to allow the created being, for the created being to be able to create within himself the wicked and the righteous, meaning his attitude towards the Creator. So that the will to receive, with whatever he feels bad about or good about – with all that – he begets what is called a soul, gives birth to what is called a soul which is a regard for the Creator. The soul is just the intention, and the will to receive, itself, serves here, as a kind of foundation, a substrate that is needed only in order to receive those feelings. And to sense with what intention, what attitude do I have towards the Creator, whether wicked or righteous.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (35:12) What does it mean to unify a desire to the Creator, how does a person know he finished doing that?

M. Laitman: What does it mean exactly to unify the desire to the Creator? It means that upon all the interruptions, the disruptions, whatever obstructs me from unifying myself with the Creator in a way where everything in me – in my feelings, thoughts in me, all of it. I see it as, let's put it this way, that I'm receiving all this from Him; that is, the beginning of that sensation, that I'm receiving it from Him. After that I need to unify it to Him so much so that it's Him—Him, Himself, that's it. Meaning, right now, you feel bad because various things are lacking in your life: you get shouted at, you get pressured, you get pushed around, you're coerced, you're insecure. Maybe it's to the point where there's actual risk of death, now, let's say, and various other things that happen to you. In all that, you have to discover the Creator's hand, that He's doing this in a very precise, accurate way, personally towards you, specifically. Whatever you see as bad, terrible things, that is His posterior meaning He wants to be revealed to you in the exact opposite of this. Therefore, He sends you the feeling of the lack for Him in such a way where you feel bad in terms of security, relationships with your environment, and so on.

Meaning, you need to feel in everything that's bad all around you and within you, all these things, that this is actually the Creator but His posterior. He's in His darkness where, specifically, in this special form He builds around you, He wants you to feel this negation. Negation, not in terms of, well, you're lacking confidence, security, good feeling, control, money, respect, all these things. But rather that what you're lacking is Him to fill you, Him, His presence. To fill you with all these things instead of money and respect, security and peace, I don't want these things. I want to feel—instead of that, I want to feel Him, His presence. Then, I'm glad with all this suffering, all this suffering brought me to recognize Him. Then, I unify everything that I feel as bad, I'm not evil, wicked anymore. Wicked means that in my bad feeling, I'm disconnected from the Creator and I think that all these things come as a result of, I don't know, the relations between the Americans and Arafat and my wife, my manager at work, all these things. But if I begin to unify these things to the Creator, He presents to me, Himself, in this unique negative manner so that I will fill up all these negative sensations with unity with Him instead of getting along with all these puppets. Then I will discover His face—then exactly – I come to a state where I justify Him. I justify His guidance, His providence which, in the beginning, brought me these bad sensations. Well, you can fold our entire Torah into this.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (40:24) How does a person bring himself to such a feeling, such a state?

M. Laitman: These states that a person is included in, incorporated in when he enters this bitterness, let's say, bile. He, himself, can never exit this because if the Creator sends this to him, it's a new state. The revelation of new vessels of the posterior which a person has no power against, no experience with, nothing to ease the process, so what to do? Here, only two solutions can exist: one solution is for the Creator to, after a while, pity him and reveal Himself, that it's Him doing it all and that the person will awaken, Oh, it's the Creator who did this to me, and so on—that is one thing. The second way is that the person through the group, the books, guidance, by establishing support for himself, supporters who remind him and they bring him again to the thought that this came from the Creator. And in every new state, the person can never, by himself, of himself, return to the thought that it came from above, that it came from the Creator. Because when the left line is given to him, he has no right line opposite that, he cannot himself manufacture the sensation of the Creator, to think about it, nothing. He has no connection, only the left on the new degree; and on the magnitude of the left, there's no right, no right. It's a sign that if the Creator does not awaken him on that new level of suffering that He gave him, if the group and the books will not bring him this outlook, then the person will never just jump—the thought will never just occur to the person and he'll remain as he is, always scared, frustrated, and so on. Meaning, the only option for us, the only avenue for us is to establish a society that will constantly remind me that whatever happens to me happens because of the upper force who arranges my entire life around me in this negative way, specifically. So that I will use this negativity in order to reach Him, to reach adhesion with Him, that's all, so that I will attribute all this negativity to Him, He's sending me this so that I will recognize Him.

Or, maybe, I'll want to recognize Him and I don't care about this negativity or maybe I want to recognize Him in order to not feel this negativity; it depends on the state I'm in, whether more or less advanced. The person who feels suffering and later remembers that there is a Creator in the world who sends him this suffering, and if he blesses the suffering which brought him to think of the Creator, then he's called righteous or just, because he justifies them. He loves them, yes because he understands that otherwise he would have never come to think of the Creator, to need Him. There is a lower degree than that, whereby remembering the Creator he sweetens his life by that, in how he feels. He's glad that there is a Creator, God bless, I have something, some kind of hope that everything will turn out for the good. Meaning he uses the Creator to sweeten his life, there are other states as well.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (45:26) Is it sufficient to remember the Creator, or do we need to somehow interpret all His actions?

M. Laitman: No, when a person begins to return to the thought that what he feels is bad and it comes to him from above, that the Creator is arranging all this image for him intentionally in such a personal, unique way. Oh, 20% I feel insecure, 80% I feel afraid, 40% I'm angry at my manager and other things, you know, the friends here and there. If I interpret this image, it helps me understand who I am, what I am, and how the Creator performs all these manipulations on me and it helps me! It's worthwhile for the person, worthwhile, when he feels that he has some illumination. That the Creator reminded him that it's Him, the Creator, doing it. It's good, it's worthwhile for the person to start examining what happened to him before and what he has now and constantly strengthen that connection to the Creator as we talked about before—talked about it before, right? Then, when he has this connection to the Creator, when he starts rising, he, rather, he needs to start bringing up within him all the negative things that happened to him in the past in order to prove to himself that they were also calls from the Creator to turn to Him, to seek Him out. Except that he, the person, didn't understand that before, meaning, he has many more discernments, to have as many as possible. But on the condition that the connection isn't severed but all these discernments will rise as AHAP of ascent, to strengthen the connection, to justify more, to have a greater foundation for the future. Although, in the next degree, it actually won't help, so we say because each degree, each subsequent degree is greater than the one before. We also learned in the article about how you have a commandment and you have Torah, where the commandment saves one and protects one when he engages in it. But the Torah protects and saves a person even when he doesn't engage in it; meaning, slowly, gradually, he makes his way, he begins to find the line. So that even during a fall, as it is written, Even if a sharp sword is laid on one's throat, never to despair of mercy, what does it mean not to despair of mercy? That if he has this feeling that it comes from the Creator and the sword, it's the sword and all that, meaning if he has these states, if he has a path even during the fall, even if he enters the sin. The sin means that he begins to think that these bad states depend on people and not the Creator, that is the only sin, there's no other sin. Still, he has within, under it, some kind of foundation where although he's afraid and although he says that these things are happening because of people in this world, other origins other than the Creator. This comes to him because he can't, he lacks light, he lacks the sensation of the Creator. But if he had that, then of course he would attribute everything to the Creator.

M. Laitman: (49:32) Meaning, then, he has in his thoughts and knowledge, awareness, this feeling of the lack of the Creator but, still, he has—this is called Torah, not a commandment. Commandment means that he's with lights and, then, of course, he adheres to the Creator, justifying Him, no problem. Torah means that even when he has no lights, he has this thought, he has this foundation, this internal basis. So that although, now, he's in states of fear, anxiety, insecurity, pressure, all that, there's still a Creator supervising everything, so-to-speak, because this bad feeling is still what's in control.

This game with us is eternal, what does it mean, eternal? It's eternal until the person crosses the barrier and even there, after the barrier, well, there it's different. Because until we reach the end of correction, permanent, let’s say, not eternal, it’s throughout the entire path. It's like with Rabbi Akiva as he's told, that Rabbi Akiva who was at a high degree, still, the angel of death comes to him and tells him, Curse the Lord and see what's done to you. Meaning, the struggle in a person to unify everything to the Creator, one single cause, that is an internal, constant struggle until the end of correction. And this is the only point we have to work on and the whole world revolves around this, and this alone. If a person looks through this sight, the sight, all the interruptions, that is, we're in the middle of all the disruptions, he sees the Creator, that's what he wants to see. Then, he's advancing correctly, in a straight, direct way, that's what he says: Israel, the paths of the Torah, and the Creator, need to be one.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (52:33) What is there in the sensation of the Creator, the revelation of the Creator, that makes me ready to live with these fears or this lack of revelation? Or, why does one turn off the other – I mean, what is there in the sensation of the Creator, that it comes from Him, that allows me to live with fears and a lack of fulfillment and all these things?

M. Laitman: Look, how does the Creator arrange this for me, this state where I'm willing to live with fear, tension, and still with the knowledge that it comes from Him? We are being held by the light which bestows upon us from above, by some illumination – a greater illumination, a lesser illumination. This is the light of our life, actually; if it shines more, we will adhere to Him more, if it shines less, we adhere to Him less. There are many such games being played from above. But it all depends on the measure of strength, the power of the light that shines on us, and no more. That light that shines works on us by filling the mind and filling the heart—our two vessels. From where do we get these two vessels? I've always heard that only the will to receive exists which feels pleasure when the light fulfills it, shines from afar, or even a very small candle. Or it feels suffering when the light is absent, distant. The issue is that other than pleasure and suffering, there is also the intention. The attitude towards the Host, and from the attitude towards the host, gradually, the Rosh, the head, is built.

Accordingly, also in our world, we have the pleasure itself and our attitude towards the pleasure, how to attain it, by what way, which one is easier, and so on. This is called Mocha, mind, for us; and Liba, lev, the heart, is the feeling. From the light, this is all created from the light: the will to receive, the body, as we call it, the Guf and also the Lev, the heart, the desire to enjoy. Nit, also, the Rosh, the head, the mind, the intention, we see that the light that reaches the discernment of the root builds the first discernment as well as the second discernment. In the third discernment, the first discernment and the second one meet together, and from that emerges phase four which is the will to receive. Meaning, the light comes, it shines, and by its illumination, it gives birth to these two things, both mind and heart. And so it follows that these things are in me in a kind of merger. And it turns out that I can sometimes — compensation, how to say, yes, to compensate, not compensate, correct — I can correct one by the other, yes? Maybe cover over the lack in the feeling of the mind with the fulfillment of the mind instead of the fulfillment of the heart, and the fulfillment of the heart instead of the mind. This is actually all the intelligence of man, right, because if we talk about feeling, that is a beast. If we talk about a head, a mind without feeling, that doesn't have anything to do with mankind, this is some kind of angel. But if we talk about how the heart and mind work together, that is a person, already; working with the heart according to the intentions in the mind, in the head.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (58:09) When a person begins to work and for the first time he sees this posterior, the rock falls on his head, Ah, it's the Creator. And then another disruption, he's paralyzed, as usual. What is the use of that, I see that I simply stop responding?

M. Laitman: You say that after 10 blows, I'm not afraid anymore, 15 blows, I'm not afraid of the blows anymore. Or I simply don't react to them as I did before, rather, they come, they come, yes? You wait, you wait, you think that you're already some kind of — either you think that you're some kind of hero, or maybe you think that you can't feel anything, anymore! You can't imagine to yourself what a revealed lack is without covering true darkness that is felt in the will to receive as the posterior of the light, you're just talking from inexperience. Through to the end of correction, the more a person advances, the more he feels himself to be dependent, but completely dependent, and more and more so on the Creator. And by this, the Creator is actually giving him the possibility of being independent, the opposite of the feeling of dependency. The posterior and anterior, they complete each other.

The weaker a person feels he is, the more dependent on the Creator; in each degree that will come in the future, he can't at all guarantee how he will behave and what will happen. But the more he understands that and feels that, with that, he's more connected to the Creator who arranges all this for him. And he's more certain that every revelation of weakness and evil will help him annul his self, his Me, right, and adhere more, and to acquire independence through that, that is how he advances. It will all come, don't worry.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:01:10) Can I interpret the Creator's actions on me, together with the friends, in order to magnify the importance?

M. Laitman: It's better for a person to focus on himself and use the others – and I deliberately use the word use, right, to use the friends. You don't need to do some kind of imaginary work where it's – no, he needs to actually use the friends in order to generate for himself support. A mechanism of support that will bring him back to thinking about the Creator every time. This whole group, I need it only in order to constantly remind me of the Creator, I don't need them for anything else. And because of that, that I need them for that purpose, I need them to reach the Creator, I'm willing to invest in them, and to give them, and to submit myself to them, for them, so that they brainwash me to do everything. But what do I demand, why am I doing all this? It's only so that they remind me of the Creator, I don't need anything aside for that. And then, he advances towards the goal, each time with renewed strength towards the goal – the goal is adhesion, you didn't understand?

Student: I understood that, but that's not what I asked. If we're sitting together, and each one has a rock fall on his head, he ascribes that to the Creator, and then we talk about it? Is that useful or is it just confusion that's not beneficial?

M. Laitman: In the group, each one needs to conceal himself, conceal what he has within. Conceal what bad things the Creator reveals to him, and how above these things he arranged his connection to the Creator, the relationship between him and the Creator. That's something that you don't tell about, but in general, each one needs to tell the other how great the Creator is! Not from what I've seen, and what I've felt, and look what happened to me, no, no, not these particular personal things of mine. But in general to help a friend who gets a generalized feeling — not a feeling, let's say — this generalized knowledge about the greatness of the Creator, the greatness, uniqueness, the goal, to read an article together, that's best! Meaning such things where I don't open up regarding what's happening between me and the Creator. It has to be a very intimate thing, very personal, very private, which I don't open up to anyone, including, of course, the wife, the children, no one, there's no entrance to that. But in general, the method, the greatness of Divinity, the goal, the path by which to reach that. Meaning everything except my own personal relationship with that, yes, that I do need to explain and to talk to the friends about, to remind the friend of this. To help him as much as possible to also remain on this path, always.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:05:36) When you think about it in our state, each time it awakens the fear of being in a state of below reason – that everything's from above, thank God, and so on. How not to fall into that state?

M. Laitman: The difference above reason, below reason in relation to the Creator, that's simple: below reason means I don't use my reason. The outcome in above reason and below reason seems to be, it appears to be the same result. Right now, I have various disruptions, yes? I shut my eyes, I don't see them, I don't look at them, I erase them, and continue my life as if they don't exist, as if there's nothing. I read Psalms, I continue studying, deliberating, thinking, and I pray in general for this to help me, that's it. I don't go into, I don't enter a connection with the Creator, a connection where I want to scrutinize this here, that there, I want to adhere to this, to that. I see how I'm not justifying Him, I see how bad I feel under His providence and supervision. It doesn't seem to me right, and everything, I'm called wicked, yes, but I don't go into that at all. I simply reject these things, repel them away from me. And the main thing for me is to be like a baby, just like a baby to hold on to my path and that's it. That's how I was taught, God bless, and that's it, that is called below reason. And then I continue in my normal life, adhesion, but on a point of adhesion which never develops. This is called inanimate or still of holiness, below reason.

But above reason means that despite all these things that come to me and contradict for me the uniqueness of the Creator's Providence in my world, meaning that I cannot justify Him and how He behaves with me, and the whole world, and everything He does with us. Despite all these things, I reveal with each and every detail of how He relates to me. I discover, actually, I reveal a unique, special attitude towards me, and to us in general, and that helps me adhere to Him even more above all these issues and questions. On the level of these questions and disruptions, I grow from still, to vegetative, and animate, speaking, I strengthen my connection – these questions become my flesh. When I clothe on the point of connection, that if I was still, inanimate, and I build from this, so I build from this point a Partzuf.

This is the difference between the still of holiness and one who serves the Creator – serving, working – how is he working? He's working with all these disruptions, using them: one who doesn't serve the Creator erases them, he uses them in order to reduce them only, restrict them from happening. The Creator sends him these disruptions but he uses them in order to restrict – not to accept them into himself, not to examine them, not to coexist with them. He doesn't analyze, he doesn't criticize, to somehow truly live with these disruptions. That is why the life of the inanimate and the life of one who serves the Creator are different: one who serves the Creator has to be intermixed with the society, has to be in all the events of life that happen with the society, has to feel the troubles of the public. And the inanimate of holiness doesn't need that, he needs to abstain from the public as much as possible, to shut himself away, not to work, not to serve, not to mourn with the public. In order to justify the Creator, he must focus only on his point of adhesion and that's it. Because he has no power to expand it, that point of adhesion, into a Partzuf, what is a Partzuf? Partzuf, that is a number of my desires that I use to adhere to the Creator, that is called a Partzuf, face in Hebrew. You have your students here, respect them.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:11:10) Two things: one, if it's not the state, as you say, that we do need to do all these things within reason to attain it, to aim for the Creator, to say it's the Creator. Or maybe I actually do say God bless and it solves the issue as if from below. Or maybe I say wait a minute, where am I in this entire thing, meaning it's the Creator, it's the Creator, the act of the Creator.

M. Laitman: According to the external appearance, then the inanimate of sanctity, he goes to sanctify the Creator without any problems. Neutralizes himself, that's what's left of him, the point of adhesion, there's nothing besides that and that's it. The one who develops himself, he adds to himself all of his doubts, all of his hesitation. He's going through very tense, very great work. And each time he has disturbances, it's not an easy life! To be on the inanimate of sanctity is a blessing, you know, you can say they give you something you can run away to. Now, we understand how for 2,000 years you were saved of all those things because there was a place to run to, a point, and all this terrible life, pogroms, whatever it was. You escape into this point and you're there, and that's it, life, death, it doesn't matter, but you are there. Whereas when you come out of this point, and you want to use the entire world as a support for adhesion, and it's such an opposite. Then it's really terrible work, very difficult, you can't even imagine that it's possible until a sharp sword rests on his neck. And there should not be despaired of the mercy; and even here, there's a point that can belong to the inanimate of sanctity, and it can be a point that belongs to the servant of the Creator. Meaning, are you simply neutralizing everything, you say, Shema Yisrael, hear, O Israel, as if you're just crying out. Or you're taking this point, and you're using it to build a Partzuf, what does it mean to build a Partzuf out of it? You don't only use it to be in adhesion, you use it in order to build a positive attitude on top of it, with the intention to bestow. Meaning to turn it into an action. You are using the disturbance as an opportunity to act, to fill this desire by yourself with reflected light. That's what we are learning, those are the actions that we're learning from Kabbalah.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:14:48) So, the worker of the Creator also needs the freedom to be inanimate when he wants, meaning when there's something that he cannot cope with?

M. Laitman: A servant of the Creator, you said that in a moment of weakness he can run away and become inanimate of sanctity – no, there's no such thing. He's not able to be in this point even for a moment, he's unable. Maybe in a moment of weakness you envy the inanimate degree of sanctity, but it's impossible to be in it. Because the approach is to neutralize the questions. It's an attitude that you have to build from the beginning. I cannot be on the inanimate level of sanctity in a part of the way and the other part to be vegetative. So, even if I become accustomed to every action, and I – let's say, I sort of freeze myself, let's say, in a certain form – I don't become inanimate. Because I work actively against all the disturbances, to freeze them, not to want them for the time being, and so on and so forth. I don't destroy them, I don't throw them away to remain in the root level of coarseness. The point in the heart in me doesn't allow me to do it, my foundation; whereas for them, because it doesn't awaken its actions, and it wants to grow, they can be connected in that same point without its development.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:17:06) We don't need to go too far, I just want to sharpen the point and talk about us, not about the inanimate of holiness, naturally. But how can we not fall to None Else Besides Him, and all these things will become like slogans for us in order to neutralize the disturbances. They're sent the disturbance, None Else Beside Him sent this, everything's from above.

M. Laitman: How can we be nevertheless certain that even though it appears to us that we're advancing, maybe we're also like that inanimate of sanctity or more sophisticated? Well, first of all, the safety, the certainty is through the feeling of ascents and descents. Certainty is that I feel each time how the Creator denies Himself, conceals Himself, and puts me through different types of relationships with Him. Sometimes He throws me out, sometimes He brings me closer. The certainty is by studying certain special books, and the atmosphere, and all the conditions that were left for us by the Kabbalists. And the guidance and everything possible just to awaken the surrounding light on me, meaning, from the very beginning, the attitude, the intention is very different than the one of being inanimate. The question is, where do we stop ourselves to such a degree that our speed becomes similar to as if we're inanimate? That's something else, meaning, it's possible that he's on a vegetative level and he's advancing, but he's advancing in such a pace that he's almost standing still, he's almost inanimate. As he says, that depends on the quality of the exertion. The quality of the exertion is how much I demand from the study to help me in life, to help me specifically with this point. For the light to shine and I will be able to unite all of my life to the Creator, with the Creator. I'll accept them, accept those lives, this life from Him, and everything that happens to me in life. So on top of these things, I'll justify Him and reveal His uniqueness.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:20:22) How far from this aspect can I scrutinize disturbances He sends to me in order to justify Him, or in order to later hold on to Him?

M. Laitman: How far can I scrutinize these disturbances as much as I can, again, I'm saying we must, if it's in my own hands, if I found in me a thought that I am receiving it from Him, I lock myself on Him. After that, I have to gradually begin to scrutinize all the disturbances and to see how He's building it around me, and how He relates to me through them, and what does He want me to correct more, or where does He want me to grow stronger? But on the condition that everything that I'm going to check now on the left side, on the left line, will be with confidence. With certainty, the promise that I will not lose the connection with the right line, with Him. I'm in, let's say, Atzilut, for example, what does it mean, Atzilut? A special form of connection with the Creator, and then I do the AHP that ascends, of ascent, as much as I can, I use the foreign thoughts to raise them to Atzilut, to unify the connection with Him, as much as I can, it's possible.

Student: In our state?

M. Laitman: We can't measure it but a person has to do it all the time.

Student: To examine the border between?

M. Laitman: To examine the border, the limit, to expand the limit of sanctity, as we say.

Student: A group, as one body, accepts like this stone on their head, like you said, where is, and you get a blow, so where is this work besides giving?

M. Laitman: The group for the Creator, in addition to the work of each and every one of men, as one man, the group is also as one man. And then it's possible that it receives like one man all sorts of problems, that each one of his members receives personally. But he doesn't receive it personally, specifically to him, rather he receives it as a member, an organ of the group. That's why when we are in a group, then you receive some fear from your boss at work, the other one fear of war, the other one gets it from his wife, the other one, another one has, God forbid, problems with the children's health, and all kinds of things. Meaning, we are like one person that receives all at once.

Also, all these problems can be, it's possible that they spread out this way relative to the group. We don't know this, we can't measure it, we don't know how to work like this, it's too complicated for us. We're not like one Partzuf, as it's written by Rabbi Shimon with his friends, you know, that each one corresponds to a Sefira, clearly. As it's written in the Zohar, Rabbi Abba, Rabbi Yossi, to teach us where this action belongs, from which side, what is the force that made it. No, we don't need to relate to this in this way but it's certainly like that; that we are also working, each one works on his own. And also the whole group has to have this mission of unifying, generally, with the Creator, together. We have to talk about it, right, that's the whole thing, that's the whole point, there's nothing besides that. But not to start all these calculations, you know, without any foundation, you can only get bogged down by this. And to work on the technique instead of thinking of the connection with the Creator.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:24:47) We talked earlier about the intimate connection between a person and the Creator that we shouldn't talk about. I can't understand where the limit is between what I can talk about and what I can't?

M. Laitman: Where is the line where I can talk about my connection with the Creator and what I can't, relative to the friends? It's better not to talk about it – me and Him – we have to talk about general things. Look, I read an article, I saw an example, look what's written there. Meaning, you're not talking about something of your own, rather you're talking about what Baal HaSulam wrote there.

Student: What if they're my problems?

M. Laitman: You're also putting yourself into it and it's possible that there's some form of causing harm to yourself. But certainly, certainly not a personal feeling, private feeling. Let's say that you're married, you have a wife and children, you have a house, and work. And you don't typically talk about how much you love your wife, or how much you have arguments with her, or what exactly are your calculations at work with someone, what kind of pay are you – how much are you making at work, and so on and so forth. There are certain elementary things that a person maintains within his border, inside his city, seemingly, right? This is called the I – I cannot talk about it. Inside of this, there are certain things that you're not even talking to yourself about. But we are creating different conditions here. If you begin to bring out, in the connection with someone, things that happen between you and the Creator, there will be a grip for the externals, seemingly. What are the externals? The externals are also the Creator. Rather, what's it about? You're not unifying these things to Him, specifically, and then you lose them, and by that, your connection with Him weakens. If there is something that I can tell someone else, it means that it's not aimed directly at the Creator. And then I'm losing, you know, how much it was connected or not connected but I was maintaining it. Now, if I'm telling someone about it in connection with the Creator, it disappears.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:27:46) But if I have troubles that I can't connect to the Creator, and I feel that I need to tell people and ask for help?

M. Laitman: If you have personal problems not connected to the Creator?

Student: All the troubles come from the Creator?

M. Laitman: No, not all the troubles, the troubles that you can unify with the Creator become – from trouble, they become a source of joy and happiness. If it's not, if it doesn't turn from bad to good, it means you did not connect it with the Creator.

Student: Can I talk about that?

M. Laitman: You can, I don't know, there are emotional or spiritual torments, and there are corporeal torments. It's allowed to tell the friends about corporeal torments, and also you should think about which way to tell them. It's recommended to have in the group a certain mechanism, a special mechanism for taking care of things that you wish to share. I lack money right now, so I turn to someone in charge of it, maybe they can, he can loan me some money from a certain savings account that we have, and then I'll pay it back. Those are human things, right? My health is down, so I turn to someone who knows how to fix it, how to, I don't know, send me to a special doctor, give me an advice – these are human things. So, the group should support it, and the person can turn to it. But also, it's recommended not just to turn to any friend, but to the group, someone in charge of it. That if I lend money, I lend it from a group, nobody knows about it except for this person. The group doesn't feel that it gave me, and I don't feel that I owe to the group and I feel that I owe to the group. It doesn't influence these corporeal things on a spiritual plane. It's isolated, I can shout at someone, he has a terrible character, I can't stand it; on the other hand, it's close to me as a student. This is beastly, this is spiritual.

Student: What about the spiritual or mental sufferings?

M. Laitman: Spiritual, emotional, mental torments, that's a problem, because these kind of torments you receive directly from the Creator so that on top of them, first of all, physically, bodily, and then all these human torments, these emotional, mental torments. You have to use them somehow in order to create a connection with Him first, so here, the group can aid you in a general way, we talk about it in general. We read an article, but you must find justification for it. You have to look for it either in the group, or in the articles, or the way you're asking about it right now.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:31:21) What about that line between mental, emotional, and corporeal torments? So, there, it's not clear; it seems like they're connected one to another?

M. Laitman: I don't see any connection between corporeal, human torments and suffering, and emotional, spiritual torments, I don't see any connection. Because it passes through the beastly system of this world, these beastly torments, human torments. Family, home, work, all those things; and the emotional, mental, spiritual torments, those are my inner feelings that I have to find their source. I can say, if I get some bad attitude from my wife, and I'm overdraft in the bank, and other things, that also comes from the Creator, certainly. He arranges all those things, it's true, but these things require a different solution, they require a solution on the level of this world. If I'm overdrawn in my bank, I'm not going to go pray in the synagogue and ask the Creator for something. This level comes to us so that we would be connected to all of humanity. There are two mechanisms in me: one is where I relate to the Creator; and another, where in this mechanism, I'm connected to the created beings.

If I feel good, bad, or fears, security, certainty, all kinds of things that belong to the question of what is the meaning of our lives, what's the meaning of my life? These things belong to the Creator, directly, I need to arrange my relationships with Him on top of them. And what I receive is human torments and sufferings in this world, like the way anyone else suffers, I have to solve them not with the Creator, but with my boss at work, with my wife, and my children, my doctor, my bank, you know, let go of the Creator. Don't solve these problems using the Creator, you're just escaping reality. Why? Because through that, I connect to other people, and in how I connect to them directly, according to the rules of the laws of the state, through the lawyer which has nothing to do with the laws of Torah, it doesn't matter. Through the accountant, and this has nothing to do with my spirituality, right, all kinds of things. Even social work, some help, I get social help from my wife or my children. With that, I do those things – how should I put it – there's necessity, and there's beyond necessity. So this necessity, I have to do it like this, this is my life. I got this life, and I have to do it according to the conditions that were given to me. And the greatest Kabbalist has to do it and the simplest person has to do it; this has to do with the mechanism of the connection between the souls on the level of this world. And according to how I solve my problems with the Creator based on the question of what's the meaning of my life spiritually, and how I solve my corporeal problems corporeally, I balance myself, more. Now, if I relate correctly to both of them, now I can begin the work.

Student: What? Which kind?

M. Laitman: Also to connect these two systems together, meaning I work, and I solve the corporeal problems as if the Creator does not exist at all. After I finish taking care of them, once they're solved, I have to say that the Creator is also the one who arranged it and He thought that it should be this way. And I unite this also with my connection with the Creator, but to treat it, I have to first solve it like a normal person. To work, I have to suffer, like everyone, in short. If I'm overdrawn in the bank, I don't go and pray; if I have a problem with my health, I have to go to the doctor. The Torah obligates you. The doctor will heal you. Why the doctor? Go pray. No, go to the doctor, if you go to pray, you erase His uniqueness, because the uniqueness of the Creator you attain through the Creator, through the doctor, through the gentile. It doesn't matter who comes and heals you.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:37:35) But bodily torments can't cause emotional sufferings?

M. Laitman: They are interconnected, these torments but for the time being, you cannot connect them because the Creator gave you His two systems.

Student: How do I know if these are emotional sufferings or if they're connected directly to some bodily suffering?

M. Laitman: You're speaking theoretically, I don't know what you're asking. You can say, I earn 3,000 shekels a month, because of that, I cannot study Kabbalah because I have to get a second job. What do I have to do? So, corporeal suffering also causes me emotional, mental, spiritual suffering, because I can't study. Maybe these kind of things? I don't know what you're asking exactly.

Student: Where is the line that runs between them?

M. Laitman: I told you, if it comes from within the question of what's the meaning and purpose of life, it has to do with spirituality, connection with the Creator. If it comes with why am I overdrawn in the bank, that has to do with corporeal suffering. And you have to solve it not with the Creator but with the bank manager or with yourself. But after the solution, if you can connect it with the Creator – after solving it, not before you're doing it – then it means that you've unified it. If you're able to do it, you don't just say it like that.