SUNDAY PRAYER: HESED-TIKKUN CHATZOT תקון חצות – LESSON WITH RAV MICHAEL LAITMAN
READING: BETWEEN AFTER MIDNIGHT AND DAWN SUNDAY
Zohar for All. Introduction of The Book of Zohar. You Are Partners with Me, item 64
Morning Lesson January 05, 2023, Transcription
Transcription is made from simultaneous translation which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio
Part 1:
1. Zohar for All. “Introduction of The Book of Zohar”. You Are Partners with Me. #64
1. Rav’s Introduction: (00:32) Yes, so we are continuing, we are continuing to discover the Creator in the connection between us in all kinds of different forms that the Creator Bore, Bo-u- Re, come and see. He has no form of his own, but rather according to how much we connect and are able to match ourselves to His form, this is how we discover His form, and according to the qualities that we discover that we reveal between us which need to be qualities of bestowal, love and connection, giving an inclination towards each other, this is how we discover the Creator as it is written, ‘you have made me, you have built me.’ That the Creator does not exist in a way that we discover Him but only according to how much we will scrutinize Him, that we will want to discover Him this is how He is revealed before us. So let’s depict the image of the Creator who is loved and close to us and is bestowing and connecting et cetera between us and in this effort we will truly discover this form. From Ein Sof we will begin to discover all of the forms, we will discover all of Him in a true manner that He’s good and doing good to the good and to the bad and we by this reach the end of our correction.
Item 64. (02:33) “So it is with each word of wisdom…”
2. S. (06:45) How does Malchut become a new land?
R. It’s a desire, Eretz land Eretz Ratzon. If the desire takes on the intention to bestow then it becomes as a new land and it’s the same with a new heavens.
S. How does our common desire now, how does it add to the intention?
R. It rises up and it sanctifies the desire, and the desire becomes a higher desire from Malchut it rises to Bina.
S. How to ask?
R. Only through prayer only through a request but not alone rather together.
3. S. (07:58) What does he mean here that there is HB TM at each stage? What is HB TM?
R. HBTM are four phases, Hochma Bina Tifferet and Malchut, so they exist as those that include it that build each and every degree, each and every state.
4. S. (08:37) In item 64, in the last sentence he says what does it mean that MA and BON were canceled and have become AB SAG?
R. That they rise in their degree. MA and BON are the degrees of Zeir Anpin and Malchut, they rise to the degree of Hochma and Bina, which are AB and SAG.
S. I have a problem already of a long time. What does Nukva mean? I know it’s the spiritual desire to receive, but how can you relate it to Bina and Zeir Anpin?
R. Where the Nukva of course belongs to Bina, however in Bina, the Nukva the female, exists as a will to bestow, like a mother towards her children, and in Malchut, the Nukva is receiving already from the upper Bina, the mother, but nevertheless the force that receives from above is called Nukva from the word Nekev, foramen, Nekev is, how shall I say it in English, I’m not sure, or in Russian a hole it’s not really a hole but it’s something that is ready to receive.
5. S. (10:51) How does connection between us influence how we hear these passages from the Zohar?
R. When we connect then the vessels connect they become more sensitive to bestowal from above. It’s very simple and then we understand more, we feel more what is coming to us from the higher degree, then we begin to detect those degrees. Try to connect between you and to see how much by that you are able to hear more and even if you cannot try a few times and a few more times then you will see how nevertheless it does have an effect. The difference is great between one person bestowing and a few people bestowing together. Look at how it is in music for example either take a single chord and a few sounds together or you only take a single sound a single note, it’s possible to play one note with a single finger but as much as it doesn’t really fill your emotions whereas hitting a few sounds together they all perform the same actions together and the person gets more excited from that.
6. S. (12:27) We are speaking about this word renewal like something new for us. For us we always talked about Reshimot and Malchut would always receive from the existence from existence. So how could it be that there’s a renewal towards this MAN? We’re always talking about the Reshimot this renewal but it’s like the first time I’m hearing it.
R. Because the Reshimot, the records that we feel that surface that rise in us these are new records following the shattering following the sin of the Tree of Knowledge and therefore each time I’m by turning from them in order to correct them we renew our actions towards Malchut and it all comes anew, it’s a new land, new heavens, this Is how we advance until we will correct all of these records following the shattering and they will all connect and by this we will reach the end of correction.
7. S. (14:11) Is there a connection between the raising of Malchut to Bina and the dressing of Hochma in Hassadim?
R. The clothing of Hochma in Hassadim usually this is an action that comes to us from above Hochma, the light of Hochma in order to shine in the lower ones has to dress in Hassadim and the clothing of Malchut to Bina these are actions that come from below when the will to receive in Bina has to rise and clothe in the will to, sorry the will to receive in Malchut, will to receive of Malchut has to rise and clothe in the will to bestow of Bina and then in such a way it will be able to receive which is it’s quality in order to bestow which is the quality of Bina and in this way it will rise and connect with the upper one, meaning these are two actions that are different completely in terms of their source – one comes from above and one comes from below– and also according to their results.
8. S. (15:47) What is or who is Atik Yomen?
R. Atik Yomen is the Rosh of the degree in which a person is and he wants to reach such a state.
9. S. (16:30) How could it be that Malchut connects, who does it connect to, in order to crown itself and return it AB SAG, and how does that work in the ten?
R. Malchut when she wants to resemble the Keter the Creator she goes through various states and each time she has to overcome her will to receive and as much as possible to resemble the Keter. This is actually her state her goal.
10. S. (17:36) In the passage she writes a lot to us about renewed renewal. How do we renew our intentions each time during the study of the Zohar?
R. Every moment we renew it. Each and every time that some question comes to us an awakening a new connection or something we are always renewed.
s. During the day whenever we are making these actions in the framework of our ten, these permanent actions, why is it called that we are renewing them?
R. Each time truly every time each and every moment we have renewal. We may not be sensitive for it yet we do not yet detect it, but it is already a renewal. There is no moment which is like another and no day is like another. always in spirituality you don’t have anything that does not change.
11. S. (18:57) He writes at the beginning of sixty-four he calls them new heavens, renewed heavens which are blocked and the secrets of the upper Hochma. What does it mean that they are blocked?
R. That they do not pass the Hochma to the lower ones.
12. S. (19:42) In the fourth paragraph he talks about this, is the meaning of BON being destined to be SAG and MA being destined to be AB, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that kind of movement. Is that the will to receive searching for the will to bestow?
R. Yes.
13. S. (20:18) We sometimes speak about Malchut as Nukva. Is there any difference between them?
R. For the time being no, but later on there will be a great difference.
14. S. (21:18) In item 64 it starts, therefore in each word of wisdom firmaments are made and established in the complete existence before Atik. What does that mean that they’re established in complete existence?
R. That Malchut raises her deficiency before the Keter of the degree and the Keter begins to work on it.
15. S. (21:51) In item 64 all of the writings of the sages are renewed as wisdom. What are the writings of the sage’s that are […]?
R. That is renewed by the lower ones, it comes from people not from above but from below.
16. S. (22:20) From the thing that was renewed in the Torah how is the Torah renewed?
R. The Torah is renewed from above, when the upper light comes and it passes through the degrees, the upper degrees and then it reaches in its illumination through Bina and ZA it reaches Malchut and then Malchut feels that a new light has come to it.
17. S. (22:56) The concept of going up and down, what are these new living lands in the passage?
R. The land of the living are the parts of Malchut that are corrected and it rises through Bina to Hochma and it is ready to receive on there the light of Hochma.
18. S. (23:20) How do we rise from Malchut to Bina in our work in the ten?
R. from Malchut to Bina how to rise, only through connection between us. Because what Malchut lacks in order to resemble Bina, this is what the meaning of rising to Bina is the force of connection, the force of bestowal in which it can acquire only by its work of connection with the friends.
Reading Item 65. (23:58) “It is written about that..”
Reading Item 66. (26:48) “And I have covered you with..”
19.R. (28:30) The light of Hochma that comes from above has to be clothed in a garment of Hassadim in order to bestow, and this is called “that I have covered you with the shadow of My hand”.
Continue Reading Item 66. (28:46) “this clothing is a shadow…”
20. (31:02) Meaning that he will not receive more than he needs in order to bestow this is what he receives; this is his test, this is all of his work.
21. S. (31:13) looks like some kind of Joyous thing, Moses received the Torah, light of Hochma, why are they concealing it, why are the angels against him?
R. Anything that pertains to the higher attainment, to a contacting with the upper connection has to be covered. It has to be covered; covering means the Masach always guards whatever you have already attained, and it testify to what you are demanding, what you are honoring.
S. Why isn’t it something that you are telling everyone, exposing it to everyone?
R. They cannot understand it. They’ll be jealous, if you don’t understand the essence of it then they will be jealous of your attainment; as much as I understand it with their yet uncorrected vessels. So, it is not worthwhile to show it to them.
S. That’s not a good envy, a healthy envy?
R. No, it’s not good envy. Good envy is when a part of the higher degree is opened up for them which they are also about to attain, in order to support them; in order to help them rise, to give them the possibility to cling to the upper One, but not in a state that they are unable to attain.
S. And who are these Angels here, it’s not the shells?
R. It is the part of the Malchut that can join.
22. S. (32:59) What does it mean that the wisdom is concealed from the lower ones and how is it brought to the lower ones?
R. Hochma is served to the lower ones only with a concealing screen and if they have against it the screen that reveals, then it cancels the screen that hides and receives the Hochma in its vessels and also rises.
23. S. (33:38) What is the meaning of, ‘I have put my words in your mouth?’
R. That he wants to enter in contact with the Creator just like the upper one is.
Bit by bit we will get used to this language and what the Zohar is presenting to us; by reading it we will get to know it. All I’m asking is that if you can read throughout the day, read it again and again because this advances you.
Reading Item 67 twice. (34:55) “And to say to Zion, you are My people..”
24. S. (38:08) I wanted to ask you for advice regarding the advice you gave us earlier in the beginning of the Zohar: Sometimes it takes me an hour and a half to get to work back and forth, Is it better for me to hear the lesson again or the afternoon lesson?
R. Whatever we learn that same day it is desirable to hear it again.
S. It is very difficult for me to hear the Zohar when I am driving, I don’t manage to grasp anything from the lesson.
R. So, here whatever you prefer to hear. Here whatever you prefer hearing. if you don’t know what then maybe listen to Psalms.
S. I am asking you for advice if I have to make an effort even if I don’t actually feel anything or do I just choose something that I love more?
R. To choose what you love; while you are driving choose what you love.
25. S. (40:03) What is the meaning of the word marked one on top of the other, does it mean that they are marked or excellent?
R. They are marked, that each will have this mark that shows whatever degree they come from.
26. S. (40:28) Does it help us to understand the Zohar while our vessels are connected?
R. Certainly yes. We can understand only to the extent that we are connected.
27. S. (41:18) About the letters in Hebrew, the letters in Hebrew are vessels. Is the Nikud, punctuation also Kelim?
R. We will talk about Nikud. Nikud it’s a large addition but later we will talk about it.
28. (42:01) In the passage we read, it says that some words that clothes up on each other, does that mean connections?
R. Yes, connections.
29. S. (42:22) In Item 65 it speaks about the heavens and the earth and new land and new heavens. Does it mean that our desire keeps growing the more we advance in the process of correction?
R. for sure that the desire opens up more and more in order for us to correct it and reveal more and more.
30. S. (43:00) he describes an operation of speaking that creates the heavens and the earth. What is this action?
R. When we connect the pieces and from them we raise erect new heavens and a new earth.
S. During the day we speak between us, the friends, what should we remember when we speak between us?
R. We need to remember when we speak between us, the necessity of the connection. There is nothing more. This is the correction of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge.
31. S. (44:00) These words that build new heavens and a new earth, are these truly words or these are desires or intentions of the heart?
R. They are intentions of the heart, they are not just words; we really build with it a new virtual world. And, this is how it is every time. This is why we say that each righteous has 310 worlds.
32. S. (44:47) What are the Innovations of the Torah in the work with the friends?
R. That you can connect each time in a new way, a higher way, and then draw more reforming light and reveal the light in those renewed vessels more each time. This is called “a new Heaven and a new Earth”.
33. S. (45:29) I heard you say that the righteous builds a new virtual world. What are these worlds that he builds?
R. These worlds that he builds, they are the Ten Sefirot, that within them he starts to reveal himself and the group, the world, everything. All in all what we are attaining we attain within the Ten Sefirot.
S. And what is the partnership that the Creator is asking a person, be my partner?
R. In connection, in mutual connection.
S. With the Creator or with friends?
R. Between us.
34. S. (46:32) When will all of these innovations end, the innovations of the Torah?
R. In the final correction.
35. S. (46:42) There is a sensation that somehow the words of the Creator in the Zohar are directed towards the Messiah?
R. I don’t know what you’re asking.
S. It says in the previous excerpt, “I put my words in your mouth”. Somehow it’s directed towards the Messiah but there are Commandments and laws and priority of that law that first the Messiah then to all, is that correct?
R. No. There is a Messiah and every degree and then there is the general Messiah. But here he is talking about the Creator helping each and every person understand the question that stands before him and how he solves it.
36. S. (48:04) We keep reading the words “it was said”, how can I make sure that this is the truth because the source is not here it just says, “it was said” and you have to believe it?
R. Because everything that is said, it was said by a kabbalists that attained it in practice, and that’s why they said, “it was said”.
37. S. (48:59) If I take confidence with the friend, this friend becomes my partner in the study of the Wisdom. By this do I also become also a partner of the Creator?
R. Yes. Yes. However you feel that you’re turning to the Creator you already become a partner with Him, in even the smallest piece.
Reading item number 68 (49:55)
38. S. (01:00:10) Maybe I’m wrong but in this excerpt in Hebrew the word Adam doesn’t exist, what man are we talking about here?
R. Each and every one of us. Each and every one of us who is included in this action.
S. This refers to a man who is far away from adhesion with the Creator, is this what it’s about here or something else?
R. Yes, yes. A person is always disconnected from the Creator except in the final correction, in the last correction when he completely connected, adhered to the Creator.
39. S. (01:01:08) He says here something, anyone who is proud, the Creator says, ‘he and I cannot dwell in the same abode,’ as his intention is to receive reward for himself. The question is: when a student asks a question doesn’t he ask out of his ego?
R. He’s not asking, he’s saying, there’s no question from his end. He says, that if a person is proud then he is not together with the Creator.
S. How do I know that when I ask you a question, I’m not asking out of my ego or my pride? Seemingly I ask a question and it comes out of my ego, so how do I lower this ego and ask an innocent question?
R. First you need to connect with the friends, bow before them, annul yourself before the ten, and then you can begin speaking truly.
S. Should I receive permission to ask a question from the friends?
R. No, I never said that to you.
S. Should I receive permission to ask a question?
R. Actually you should feel that they should support the question you’re asking.
S. Should I tell them first that I’m about to ask a question?
R. There’s no need.
S. When he says that those who are proud, he and I do not dwell in the same abode because of their ego, what does that mean?
R. If you nullify before the friends and this is something you need to do always, then you are asking if things will be good for them too.
S. He writes here, when a person asks out of the ego, this is an evil- eyed person. Is there an evil eye?
R. For sure.
S. What is the evil eye that I draw upon myself?
R. The will to receive that clothes on you and doesn’t let you move.
S. What happens to a person if the evil eye clothes on him?
R. He needs to make corrections and then return to that same state.
40. S. (01:04:00) It says in the excerpt that he misleads himself because he cannot know for sure in his soul that he’s aiming for his own need and by that he lets the Klipot kill people. We know that we want to kill the evil. What does it mean here that he wants to kill people?
R. To kill people means to kill a person who is in a state of Adam, in a state of man.
S. But man means similar to the Creator, this is something that we want?
R. You will get it.
S. To be Adam, is to resemble the Creator, this is something that we want?
R. Yes.
S. So what is it that we want to kill?
R. This Adam that is within a person that wants to be similar to a person within a person, similar to the Creator within a person, that’s the one he wants to kill. So then you need to keep yourself from doing that.
41. S. (01:05:06) What is complete annulment if inside of me there is this lie. What can a person do if his internality, so that his annulment will be true before the friends?
R. These are great things and broad things. I don’t really know how to respond, just simply nullify towards them, and receive them all as greater than you. That’s it that’s clear.
42. S. (01:06:02) It’s not so clear, a person has a way that he walks in our path and then at some point this prayer is incorrect, always, and then at some stage he has some scrutiny that should be a prayer for the others, for the friends and later on there is already a problem. It’s not clear: where can there be a prayer that really harms a person, either the prayer is scrutinized or not?
R. This is what you need to ask for from the Creator that he will show a man when he is in the correct prayer and when he’s in the incorrect prayer.
43. S. (01:07:04) What can we do with the intentions that they create in the world?
R. We need to correct them within us to the extent that they are bestowing and influencing us.
S. What should happen so that an action that we do in our work becomes a feeling?
R. You don’t need to do anything, you need to keep going, correct it or move together with the development.
44. S. (01:08:05) A person draws the abundance for a higher purpose and then it turns out that actually it’s the deficiency of in order to receive. So why was he given the abundance to begin with and why do they fail a person?
R. So that he learns. Did you learn at one point, in school? The entire study is you doing exercises. You’re always asking, and you need to solve the problem and you need to see, is your solution the correct solution. And that’s how it is in life.
45. S. (01:08:59) The language that the Zohar speaks in, somehow I felt that it’s very high and he was talking about a spiritual system like a Segula, and I felt like this is how we have to accept it. Today, the Zohar is very emotional and speaks like an article, about our inner work: how to understand the changes in the language of the Zohar?
R. You don’t need to understand; you need to feel.
46. S. (01:09:30) What does it mean that he carries or uses the name of the Lord in vain?
R. Well this is very broad, it’s not for us.
S. What does it mean that it inverts into a lie only by the power of the Nukva?
R. Because only from the will to receive you have this twisting around where you can start to look again at everything that happens from the side of your will to receive.
47. S. (01:10:22) It’s written here that the prayer of the righteous is in order to give contentment to the Creator but there’s also a prayer of the lower one. Is there a difference between them?
R. Yes, what do you mean the prayer of the righteous comes to us from a high level from his connection with the Creator and the prayer of the lower is according to state.
48. S. (01:11:00) When he speaks about the Klipa, the shell that comes down and incites and it rises and slanders. What does this thing do, what does it mean in respect to us?
R. We start to receive from within that feeling of the difference of the degrees, the difference between the degrees.
49. S. (01:11:41) It is written that seemingly a person is doing something good but she’s reading too quickly. Which inner work is this about? Sometimes the friends say something that they are not really connected, so I ask for a correction. How does it happen inside of me?
R. If it happens within you that I can’t tell you but just keep going and keep going and you will see how everything changes and then you change in parallel to that.
50. S. (01:12:28) All of these states, these are states in the spiritual world. So the question is: the clothing of the firmament, the screen, it cannot shield or protect us from the shells, the Klipot?
R. The screen defends you relatively, in order to push you and to develop it and to grow it. So you would understand more what stage you’re in, what forces are between you and which ones are influencing you. These are all just educational points. All of the wisdom of Kabbalah is a system which makes us from small beasts to great men.
51. S. (01:13:39) Do our connections build worlds and our disconnections destroy worlds?
R. Yes, that’s how it’s written.
52. S. (01:13:54) I grew up hearing this concept of speaking of the Creator’s name in vain. What does it mean to speak of the Creator’s name in vain and how can we prevent from doing that in the ten and the world Kli? What does it mean to speak of the Creator’s name in vain? It was in the reading we just had. And how can we prevent that from doing that in the ten?
R. Be careful to speak only truth, don’t use the Creator and don’t try to bring the force of the Creator with all kinds of things, with all your calculations in this world. It will help you every time to raise the Creator in your eyes to a higher degree and that’s how you actually rise.
53. S. (01:15:33) Is the force, the false force of the male and female? Do they overcome as Gmar Tikkun gets closer.
R. Yes, for sure. The good force and the evil force the more that we come closer to the end of correction they become higher and sharper and also contrasting and we will need to use these scrutinies more and more complex. You also have this in this world in every profession.
54. S. (01:16:47) According to this article, the results of a deed and success, depends on the initial intention?
R. Also the initial and also how much he’s holding it to our time, all the time.
55. S. (01:17:29) Why is it even possible to do all these deceiving things: there was a restriction?
R. This is not false, that’s how we study. All of our study is composed of exercises and exercises they always exist on the level of the next degree.
56. S. (01:18:31) Does the ascending of Malchut to Bina at the beginning of correction or at the end of correction?
R. The rise of Malchut to Bina is at the beginning of correction and the rising of Bina to Keter is the final correction.
57. S. (01:18:59) What do I have to remember during the reading, the friends, the words, the Creator, the connection, the prayer?
R. Everything together, everything together, me and the friends and the connection and the Creator all together; I want to exist in one system. I want to feel it. I want to hold on to it with my strength and with my consciousness and awareness and my desire.
58. S. (01:19:33) The more we read the Zohar, I recognize that it’s similar to working in the ten because it speaks about an innovation of the feelings of Arvut, is that right?
R. Yes.
59. S. (01:19:57) Why do we need the innovations of the Torah as a constant state, a ten studies and everything is stable and good? Why do we need the innovations?
R. In order to clarify and scrutinize all the Kelim that we need to correct: this is the purpose of our life.
60. S. (01:20:25) What has to happen for Malchut to rise to Bina?
R. What has to happen for Malchut to rise to Bina? For us to want for Malchut to rise to Bina, for her to be in order to bestow.
61. S. (01:20:41) What do the five hundred Parsa mean?
R. Distance of five hundred degrees.
62. S. (01:21:00) What’s the difference between deception and a lie?
R. I don’t know what to tell you, a lie from falsehood is something concrete that relates to people and the relationship between them and that’s a lie and falsehood, a philosophical term that exists between people when they turn it on. I’m not sure. This is not really a Kabbalistic question, you need concrete Partzufim.
S. He writes that the male is the Klipa of the lie, and the female is the Klipa of the falsehood.
R. This is something else. The Klipa of the male is the lie and female is the falsehood.
63. S. (01:22:37) Is this part describing about the falsehood and the lie in our work, that we don’t see an answer to the prayer, but we have to keep going?
R. We have to always generate the prayer because otherwise we are going to be disconnected from the Creator and disconnection from the Creator is always a lie and isn’t the correct way for development.
S. It just seems that there is an incorrect action, that first I think I can pray and afterwards I see that it was all for me, it’s like they show you that you don’t need to but you do need to.
R. Yes.
64. S. (01:23:49) If we don’t know how to raise MAN?
R. [No translation]
65. S. (01:24:25) What’s the state that seems to me that I can do a certain action in bestowal?
R. This is really possible and the next moment you are going to feel that you made a mistake and the mistake on the next degree, the plus one, on your level, and the plus two, it’s already incorrect but still you have to do it.
S. Such a thing happens all the way until the end of correction or does a person understand that he can do actions to bestow in the middle?
R. You can always be doing actions of bestowal always, all the time you will be feeling that there are higher degrees of the action and his actions according to the higher degree are always in order to receive.
S. What’s really confusing a lot of times, that on one hand we hear that it’s already revealed inside me, but on the other hand, there is another truth that no matter who grasps things, how to scrutinize the truth that doesn’t belong to me that exists?
R. It is within you, actually within you, this is the complete truth that exists within you, and you have to open it and reveal it. The drawing towards the truth you have, this is what’s called the point in the heart.
66. S. (01:26:21) What does it mean to lie in the name of the Creator, because we’re not allowed to lie, and how do I feel whether I’ve lied in my feeling?
R. When the next degree is revealed, then you will feel what you’ve done, you’ve done on the lower degree, the lower degree which is in comparison to the higher degree, a lie.
67. S. (01:27:04) This feeling of deep Nukva, this lie, this Klipot, what does this mean in me, what forces are working on me in my feeling, what signs is it giving me, this deep Nukva?
R. Sign from the depth of the Nukva, this is a desire to receive that is endless, unrestricted, where all you want is to receive, to control, to rule, this is the bottom pit of the Nukva.
S. How can I work with it in the ten?
R. As we always say, more and more to connect with the friends, to make daily calculations, am I advancing and coming closer to them or not, and accordingly continue.
S. Continuing what?
R. Continuing and connection. Only out of a great connection can we scrutinize how yesterday I was in a small connection.
S. And let’s say I’m in this deep Nukva, in the deep feeling, how can I overcome this by prayer of course, but what are the actions, what is the prayer, just asking for connection? That will give me insight of what to do in detail?
R. Ask that question of everyone.
Workshop: What can we do and how can we pray to overcome when we have the feeling of deep Nukva, this deep lie, inside of us, what prayer should we make together? How can we help each other?