HESED: TIKKUN CHATZOT תקון חצות – LESSON WITH RAV MICHAEL LAITMAN
Rabash. One Should Always Sell the Beams of His House. 9 (1984)
Morning Lesson October 2, 2022 Transcription
Transcription is made from simultaneous translation which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio
Part 2:
Rabash. Article 9, 1984. One Should Always Sell the Beams of His House
1.R. (00:18) It’s one of the first articles Rabash wrote for people who came to study; and I guess that by this he wants to give the foundations of the right attitude from a person to the wisdom of Kabbalah to the world and today’s life.
Reading (00:44 – 16:22) “One Should Always Sell the Beams of His House…”
2. S. (16:27) In spite of locking all the spies away trying to justify the friends, how to be in Arvut and mutual guarantee, here, because we hope that all of us here are doing the same work or I’m not hoping, I’m not wishing for the same atmosphere in the group?
R. You must do everything to come closer to the friends and show them that you are going through this nearing and they also have to be in a mutual way towards the others, towards you, yes.
S. Rabash writes that ‘I seemingly don’t have to demand this from them,’ I have to do everything on my side, my part.
R. You have to show them an example.
S. The question is: on the one hand I’m trying to justify him, on the other hand, how can I take care of this atmosphere in the ten where everyone is doing it because if, for example, I don’t see someone doing this work what can I do, how can I justify, if he, let’s say, is not doing it?
R. You keep going even though he’s doing the opposite, you keep going. It is not written that you have to look at the friends and learn bad things from him, you have to relate to him with an open heart.
3. S. (18:24) He says, “And I have the power to work in love of friends with greater power than I have by myself”. That’s a great line, what does he mean here?
R. That he will get an addition of forces, more and more, to work for the benefit of the friends.
S. And he says “even though he sees bad things”.
R. Right, even though he sees bad things.
S. Where do you take the power for it, it’s hard to see the friends like that?
R. He asks to have it and even if he doesn’t really want it, he still asks for it.
S. And then what, I see my friends in a better state?
R. Even if you don’t, but you ask for the good forces and relate to the friends in a good way, even though you receive back from them all kinds of blows.
S. He says “judge his friend favorably”, what does it mean here?
R. That even if they relate to you badly, you say ‘they have eyes and shall not see’, and you relate to them back as if they are doing good things to you.
S. What if I can’t do what you’re saying now?
R. Too bad, because you are really working in order to get the force of bestowal, “love will cover all crimes”.
S. But where do you take this force to overcome?
R. You ask for it, why didn’t you ask for it?
4. S. (20:13) Does “putting shoes on feet” mean adding intention to bestow or is it just to “lock away the spies?
R. “Lock the spies”, you lock them with your intention, that you don’t want to work with those thoughts and desires that are against connection with the friends. And they are constantly there in you and they keep awakening you, and you stand above them and you step on them and you don’t want to hear them. But you relate to them, specifically upon those spies, you can ascend on the degrees, they obligate you to rise above them and as much as you develop you will feel greater than greater: the greater than his friends, his inclination is greater too, and you’ll have to rise above them and in this way, you can rise more and more.
5. S. (21:39) If I am a spy, one of the spies, how do I typically behave in the group, in my ten?
R. I don’t understand, you are the spy?
S. Yes, I am the spy in the ten, in the group, how do I do it, I thought “the spy” is each one of us was?
R. Right but we need to suppress him right? We need to suppress the spy and ‘man will help his friend’, we have to show him some way, in like a gentle way to each and every friend, and also to show them an example as much as you overcome the spy in you. That you’re showing everybody as much as by this you want to succeed whether you succeed or not, that’s already a secondary, but first of all that you want to overcome that spy and succeed.
You want to relate to all the friends in a good way even though it’s very difficult, I have a difficult nature, difficult character. You get disturbance from above all the time but there’s no choice and you really fight with yourself and once you succeed, once you’re done, the greater than his friend, his inclination is greater, too, don’t be a shame of it, on the contrary be proud that you always have work in this.
6. S. (23:39) A technical question: what is the meaning of all those expressions, for instance, “the feet”?
R. That’s not important, that, for now, is not important.
7. S. (24:02) What does it mean “to scrutinize if people are truly a good match for one another”?
R. That means every time to get an innovation in our work and come closer to that goal together
8. S. (24:28) We just had a great lesson about forgiveness and about the Day of Atonement, this article talks about “incidents in the group”, has this everything, what is this relationship between this article of gathering in the group all our incidents, finding the spies within yourself, asking for forgiveness, etc., is this article related to that and can you explain the relationship in the ten?
R. Of course the Day of Atonement and all these days, all together of the month of Elul, that we ask for forgiveness and the Day of Atonement and Rosh HaShana and afterward Sukkot. All these stages in our spiritual work is the building of the inner vessel between us. It all ends in the Sukkah, that we enter the Sukkah under the S’chach, the sash, and there we see sit and enjoy the lights that shine upon see us through the S’chach that is called ‘surrounding light’ and it already can bestow on us and correct us to come closer to the Creator. All of these holidays are exactly, they resemble the stages we have to go through in our spiritual development.
S. What is the process of gathering all these incidents in the group, how do we do this so we can ‘sell the beams’?
R. It is simple in the group, as much as we connect more and more between us we advance and feel changes, also internalin us, in each one and also in the relationship between us, in the connection between us and the Creator coming closer to us, as much as He shines, it is all called a new beginning, the RoshHaShana, the beginning of the year. And this beginning is what we need to have, and in this way we really hope that this day and onward, we will advance.
9. S. (27:45) What is the meaning of “shoes on their feet”?
R. “Feet” . . . . comes from the word “spies”, . . . ., and man does not want to not have the spies, but he understands that it has to be, how should I say it, he wants such discernment, systems that will help him control these spies, his spies. That’s why “he acquires shoes to his feet” and in this way advances.
10. S. (28:46) Here Rabash uses the advice when you discover spies, and they’re constantly found in our work, is to relay in that moment he chose the friends and signed the Covenant with them. In our society I see also myself and my friends, that the friend chose the path, the place, first of all because of the Rav, the books, they didn’t choose the friends, the ten?
R. Of course after you come to that place then we find the friends.
S. But the thing that a person has to sign a covenant with those friends and he has this picture, that he’s believed in it, believed this in the group, believed his friends and he can use this moment. It is as if this moment is lacking or I just fell into a ten and whoever came, came, I didn’t choose the friends here to come, they were here when I showed up, maybe more will show up later.
R. And how can you start, how can you choose a ten. Let’s say you have before you one thousand tens, more or less so you won’t get confused, how can you choose if you are in the beginning of your path?
S. I understand it perfectly so nonetheless, how can I sign a covenant if my heart is not the one who choose those friends and reach that point and from there continue to work and advance?
R. That’s why we have to believe that all of our connections in the group happens from above in the hands of the Creator and that we come to the group, we just have to invest forces more and more in the connection between us.
S. That’s an action I have to do when the spies poke my head and my heart?
R. No I don’t think that to search an extent you are in an inner struggle with the spies but let’s say yes, so you already know that you are advancing, and you have to go for it. That’s why Rabash writes in the first articles that the connection for us is the main thing, subjugation and so on.
S. (33:36) INFO: Rav, as you described, we have a whole month of holidays and Unity Evening will conclude this month, what do we have to come to in conclusion of this month of holidays, in this Unity Evening?
R. We are still far from the end of the holidays, we will summarize ourselves in a few more lessons, we will reach a summary. For now we don’t have enough material to summarize, we didn’t go through, actually any holiday, only preparations to them, their work. So, let’s keep going and we’ll summarize at the end when we will have enough material and more connection, it’ll come, but all-in-all, in a tendency to connect between us. Thank you.