MONDAY PRAYER: NETZACH-TIKKUN CHATZOT תקון חצות – LESSON WITH RAV MICHAEL LAITMAN
READING: between after midnight and sunrise of Monday
Zohar for All. Introduction of The Book of Zohar. Among All the Sages of the Nations of the World, There Are None Like You, item 161
Morning Lesson February 04, 2023 Transcription
Transcription is made from simultaneous translation which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio
Part 2:
Zohar for All. Introduction of The Book of Zohar. Among All the Sages of the Nations of the World, There Are none Like You, item 161
Reading 161
1. S. (03:58) What does the translation mean in the text which is part of sanctity?
R. Because we have the text which is written in the language in which it was the customary to write Kabbalistic texts in Hebrew and we have also texts that can be conveyed through translation which is not precisely Hebrew but it is actually Aramaic all kinds of other conditions or translations, and where they want to hide a little bit or help a little bit or bring it to attainment but not in a direct way then they use the language of translation. We are going to stumble across this in many places where they explain to us what is the difference between the language and the translation. They used it in the past in many cases. It is like we see today that in the text of politicians of influence that it says that let’s say that this agreement was written in two languages let’s say English and Italian and the two of them have the same power meaning even though it is impossible to weigh precisely that one language would be exactly like the other language however this is what we agree on.
2. S. (06:20) Can you explain the two appointees damage our land so they would become like their heaven and earth?
R. We are going to read on and we are going to see because for the time being he did not give us any explanation.
3. S. (07:19) The quality of wholeness that is described here which is part of the qualities that has to be in the person’s attainment and there is also what we are talking about faith that there is also faith below reason, so how to have the quality of wholeness or innocence, how to be in a state where you use the reason, that vessel of reason to attain spirituality also the quality of wholeness, what is this?
R. What is the question?
S. There are two discernments, wholeness on the one hand and there is the faith below reason, it seems that they are in contrast.
R. If there is a conflict between them which means that we do not understand this quality or that quality. When we get closer to them and understand them then we will see that there is no collision or contradiction between them.
Reading 162 and 163 (08:49)
4. S. (15:09) What is the quality of the wisdom there, what is the dialogue there with the philosopher?
R. The philosopher is a person, a scholar who is trusting in his own logic and revelations in his intellectual perception of the system of the world and creation and in such a way he becomes incorporated in the research that the Zohar is leading. The Zohar is telling us seemingly on behalf of the Creator, on behalf of the upper force and this explanation of the philosopher’s is that the person thinks that with his intellectuality can discover and attain something like that, which was not yet written in the books before. This is why there is a collision with the philosopher over many years, we are going to see what happens.
S. So it is a quality in me?
R. It is the quality of thought, logic or intellect that the person thinks that with the help of his intellectual and logical vessel he can understand, he is going to be fine and he can somehow limit the Creator and confine the Creator because it is impossible to contain, to bring the Creator into a certain framework of research if we do not confine him intellectually and emotionally just like every other kind of experiment.
S. So now in the lesson I try to read the Zohar, how to cancel the quality of philosopher in me and what are the qualities to replace it with?
R. The most important is to absorb everything that is written in the books and later it will work out even if it will not come out immediately but according to the different levels and approaches, that’s it. What else can we do for the time being? Nothing but you were in your initial approach. It has to be clear already that you’re coming closer to understanding this desire to understand who is in the correct roll and the essence, I would not say essence of the Creator in relation to man and as much as the person can attain the Creator.
S. When we ask you questions many times you say I do not want to hear your philosophy, what does it mean?
R. I guess in such a case there is some attempt to progress with the help of the intellect and with the help of the intellect it is not possible to progress only with the help of faith, that is if we will acquire that quality of faith that the Creator has then to that extent we will feel and attain him. We are going to talk about it quite a lot. Bit-by-bit this quality will appear in us. In the meantime we do not need to decide anything or jump into conclusions. Just continue.
Reading 164 (20:16)
5. S. (22:33) Why does it seem that the person’s measurement of resemblance to Him is not revealed to the person?
R. In the end we do discover it and we measure it and we also measure the gap between the states, how much we discover each and every time but in the beginning maybe not, I guess you’re right, we do not yet have the vessels, we do not have what to compare them with.
S. From time to time when I just look at reality, I see nothing but myself, I see there is that exist except me, it is like I am surrounded by thousands of mirrors reflecting my own qualities in different ways.
R. This is correct so what is your question, how out of that you can reach the recognition of godliness by bringing your perception closer to the perception of the friends and then you have way to calibrate between you and the others and in such a way you acquire, bit by bit, the quality of bestowal so that you can see yourself and in general the world through different eyes, in the eyes of the friends.
S. So when we are connecting to look through the eyes of the friends, what I have to do is to nullify my desire for reception to incorporate into them?
R. Yes, yes it is so.
S. So wen we are doing this, how to find the force, how to awaken up the Reshimot that can give us force to nullify myself and to adhere myself to them, to melt into them because most of the time it is like not a stable sensation of the connection between us, it is not stable.
R. Does not matter if it’s not stable, so they are constantly undergoing changes, changes of discernments, the most important thing for us is to nevertheless stay with our aiming on our sight.
Reading (26:22 – 27:25)
6. R. (27:27) This means that here there is a question: is the will to bestow that we want to acquire can it only helps and strengthens and works in the qualities of bestowal and it has nothing it can do against the qualities of reception?
Reading #165. and 166. (27:57 – 32:15)
7. R. (32:16) This means that the moment we start to use wisdom, we are going to lose everything that we had.
Reading on (32:28 – 43:15)
Reading #167 (43:18 – 44:28)
8. R. (44:30) Yes, that is, we see that it sounds, well you know, 168, let’s finish it.
Reading #168 (44:42 – 45:12)
9. S. (45:21) Earlier we saw that this philosopher converted because of faith, how can we use the wisdom, not in order to get lost like you told us, but actually in order to become righteous?
R. That means, to convert, meaning to follow the revelation of the Creator and discover that He actually is the upper force of nature and He organizes everything and does everything and brings you to the center of creation, that’s what it means, to be connected to the upper force of nature, these are the important points.
10. S. (46:28) It is written that there is no one, ‘there is no righteous who has done good but did not sin before’, in that place where we read, it seems like there are sins that are worthwhile to get into and sins that are not worthwhile to get into?
R. No, sin means that you never know that you’re going to make a sin, your rather sure that you have the right, correct intentions but still the incomplete knowledge leads you to a failure.
S. Is there some boundary where we can know that from here the shell will start to rub us and we should not cross that line?
R. There are probably such states as well, yes.
S. How do we recognize this boundary, how do we not cross it?
R. ‘There is not as wise as the experienced’, ‘none as wise as the experienced’; we cannot build above us some sort of system that will manage us and be between us and the Creator, and will not allow us to go wrong.
R. So it turns out that in all the Torah we have all kinds of stories, they’re actually not stories it’s instructions, how to approach the final Correction to achieve the complete and final Correction where we stop making mistakes and realize, and bring all of our ingredients, components towards correction, connection, to reveal the complete name of God.
11. S. (48:55) It says here that “by these bad thoughts we become emptied of holy abundance of Kedusha, what kind of bad thoughts empty us?
R. When we will get there you will feel it, for now why talk about it, just to awaken it before time?
12. S. (49:25) How is it possible to become free from the philosopher who’s sitting between me and the ten?
R. It’s our ego, the philosopher that pulls us to all kinds of philosophies, conclusions, it’s our ego that wants as much as possible to assemble some intellectual system by which we will know how to limit ourselves, how to adjust ourselves in the way that we won’t go wrong; but of course it’s not going to happen because we can’t discover the true reality without the Creator. Because the Creator, He, Himself is the true reality and so it turns out that sooner or later we nevertheless come to know the purpose of creation.
13. S. (50:58) Can you explain what is the four Malchuts that go on above?
R. We can put it simply that it is Aleph, Bet, Gimel, Dalet of the will to receive and it’s revealed it’s in control; historically we can also say that this is how the four egoistic rulers have appeared, which they used to rule the world in the past. And we can also imagine the qualities in the human, sanguine and lyric and melancholic. And in such a way we also discover the four levels of nature, the four corners of the general Malchut and all the discernments and so on and so forth.
14. S. (52:35) What is a gift and what gift can we give to a friend?
R. First of all, friends, we only refer to a woman towards the other women or a man towards the other men, not towards the opposite sex. A ‘friend’ means a person that by getting closer to him I get closer to the Creator, the friend means that I want to connect with them and by that I’m sure that I will end up closer to the Creator and so forth. In principle there has to be an agreement for the whole ten that we have such friends, except for the ten let’s say, that we also work on them to bring them closer and so forth, all of that is considered the term ‘a friend’.
15. S. (54:03) The Creator hides His greatness and the person, on a spiritual degree, is when he discovers the greatness of the Creator, on each new degree he discovers greater greatness only in greater quality? I mean, it’s the same greatness but with more, higher quality or is it something new, new aspects of it?
R. All of this is interdependent, if I know that the Creator is also running some other level of nature then He becomes even greater in my eyes, and then another thing that He governs in the system of Heaven and He becomes even greater in my eyes and so forth, that is how we advance.
S. So in height and also in width?
R. Of course.
16. S. (55:15) In our meetings on Zoom, we read an excerpt and ask a workshop question and every friend, in turn, answers according to his understanding. How do you suggest that we watch out that that we don’t become philosophers?
R. Our solution in contrast to philosophers is that all that we want to attain is only by getting closer between the friends. I can talk for a thousands of hours about something that doesn’t matter but if I want to obtain something then I depict to myself the greater attainment, the higher truer, upper attainment, only in being closer to each other than before.
S. In order to be closer, is it worthwhile to speak in the praise of the friends, praise of the society, engage only in that?
R. Of course, not only, but most for the most part.
S. And what else?
R. Well there are many things that we can feel between us, attain, determine about the Creator, ourselves, the group, our connections in general, the ups and downs, many things; spirituality is as deep as the ocean.
17. S. (57:02) I hope you can let me ask two questions: first question would be, I kind of felt this state a couple of times that we are reading right now, that the intellect wants to take over and it can be a horrible state, you know, that you don’t even want to come to come to the lesson and it can be sometimes even scaring not to listen to it, so how to avoid not to come to that state?
R. I don’t think we can avoid something, we just need to set up the connection between us that all the exercises the Creator will do with us will push us toward connection instead of separation, that’s all. Meaning it all depends in how we are seeing the goal, our direction, our development and do not be afraid, don’t be afraid. Also importantly as intensively as possible, as fast as possible, to undergo all these states and see that we are running from state to state forward, and thus we advance.
S. The next question, I can feel in this in the same time I can feel a burning desire for the wisdom, for the advancement and everything and I feel love and passion for it, but in the same time I can feel it totally opposite, you know, totally opposite like I want to burn down everything and just disappear, how to handle this state?
R. Still not a fully scrutinized state, not fully clarified, you’re not yet certain where you are and what is your goal and is it worthwhile to invest your whole life in attaining the Creator or that getting some nice job or honor from people. Money, honor, power, knowledge, maybe that is attractive to you, so that states is still not clear, you should further scrutinize it.
18. S. (01:00:06) The reading of The Zohar what we read, we especially felt the demand or the need to receive complete faith, how to implement that?
R. In the group we should constantly talk about how to reach complete connection between us.
19. S. (01:00:45) In item 155 in TES, we read that even if we don’t understand what we’re reading, just from the strong desire to know we awaken the surrounding lights; in 166, it says that the wisdom of the nations give us bad thoughts in trying to understand the Creator in thoughts but without taking His greatness into consideration. That strong desire and longing, is that the spiritual feeling of greatness of the Creator, is that what awakens the surrounding lights?
R. It is close to it, yes, it is close to it.
20. S. (01:01:41) Are those evil thoughts that conduct us, is it because we don’t have good connection, why does someone like ‘Nebuchadnezzar’ awakens?
R. In order to strengthen the right connection between us.
21. S. (01:02:19) You answered the friend that we have to overcome the fear and overcome all the states, how do you go through these states intensively?
R. Embrace with the friends and together go forward by speaking among you, by agreeing among you every step of the way, and you will see that there is no fear and no obstacles. The Creator created it in a very simple way, if you, each one of you separately, if you are separate to yourself then you have a thousand disturbances, external and internal. But if you are together there are no disturbances, you’re not troubled by anything, you just go and open all the gates.
S. What does it mean ‘to hug the friends’, what does it mean ‘together’?
R. That you want to be connected in order to advance towards the purpose of creation, to be together and in togetherness between us, you reveal the Creator.
22. S. (01:03:48) It’s written about that idol that was made from all kinds of materials, what are all those materials that it’s writing about, and why is “faith a stone” and “he was hit in the leg”?
R. Faith is built on ‘the stony heart’, and that is why it is described this way, it says very little about it here but in the end, we’ll gather it all together and we’ll have the right description of how we come to complete faith.
S. Did I understand correctly, it’s like the higher Partzuf, a more pure desire?
R. Yes, of course.
23. S. (01:05:01) The Zohar is saying here speaking about complete faith how to aim ourselves every day, to check that we are in that direction of complete pure faith. How to connect ourselves to that?
R. Connect among yourselves and connect with the Creator, and then you will have clean faith in the Creator, pure faith.
24. S. (01:06:15) In 168, it’s written “Rabbi Shimon said to the friends, “my sons this wedding each one of you will dress the bride.”, and his son Eleazar told him, “give one gift to the bride because tomorrow Zeir Anpin will enter the Huppah with song and praise given by the sons of the Temple.” so the question is how can we attain this wonderful term in this amazing excerpt through the light that reforms, how beloved Rav, please?
R. We will go deeper and deeper into this every time and we will attain it.
25. S. (01:07:36) What is the corrected Malchut?
R. The corrected Malchut is the one that comes to being similar to Keter, she observes all the forces of bestowal and becomes similar to Keter.
26. S. (01:07:56) In our works a few days ago you told a student that all our work is to reach the right prayer and we are not the ones correcting. So when a person reaches that place of prayer, that is already part of the Malchut that is corrected?
R. We are not vessels of bestowal, we are vessels of reception and that is why our whole correction is to have reception in order to bestow, to turn ourselves, to invert ourselves, our vessels of reception which is our entire essence, in such a way that we work with them but the result will be bestowal upon the Creator. So I’m willing to receive from Him what He is giving but on condition that I feel that by this I’m doing good to Him, I’m giving Him pleasure, this is our entire work. So let’s try to find such manners of work, such manners of connection between us that what we receive will be toward with regards to the Creator will be as bestowal, so with regard to the Creator, toward the Creator it will be as bestowal. You know, it happens in every age when a child grows, if he opens his mouth and receives from the mother what she wants to give him then he’s doing her a favor, and we see that the mother even thanks him afterwards, the child, for opening his mouth and eating. So we can learn how we can receive from the Creator abundance, everything, the best things which He has kept for us and it will be for His sake because ‘more than the calf wants to suckle, the cow wants to nurse’. The Creator wants to give much, much, more than we want to receive.
27. S. (01:10:32) How can my private prayer here in the lesson can serve the whole Kli?
R. To the extent that you want to connect with them, to bond with them, to adhere with them, accordingly it will happen.
28. S (01:11:11) I heard that only through connection we can come closer to the Creator and attain the goal. So, any connection or only connection through overcoming?
R. Connection is always by overcoming, you there’s no connection without overcoming.
S. Let’s say in the ten there are three friends that it’s easy for them to connect, they feel very good about it?
R. Because they see before them benefit from connecting, we’re not talking about this type of connection, we’re talking about ‘purposeful connection’ and ‘purposeful’ means it’s against the desire, when we have to put together pieces in order to put the right puzzle between us.
S. And a ‘purposeful connection’ against the desire that you attain something from it, so is that also connecting to the Creator?
R. Yes of course.
29. S. (01:12:18) The pace that’s the states change are very quick and I feel I’m not able to scrutinize them, should we go back and try scrutinize things that happened?
R. Going forward is more important.
30. S. (01:12:50) What does it mean that “faith is built on the stony heart”?
R. The ‘stony heart’ is a concept that we cannot cope or deal with our heart, whereas a heart of flesh is when we can soften it and connect it with the hearts of the friends, so we need to turn our stony heart into a heart of flesh.
S. Why are faith and reason contradicting terms isn’t faith the measure of complete reason?
R. No, I understand you, you want to say that when I attain complete faith, then my mind acquires a new quality but it’s not like that.
31. S. (01:14:22) What is the extent of connection that we need with the friends in order to discover the Creator?
R. In order to discover the Creator we need on each and every level when we connect to come to a state where we’re all in one heart. And of course this condition of being in one heart will always be different, once it will be with a weight of 10 kg, 20 kg, 100, 1000 etc. So it all depends on against what egoistic will to receive we’re operating on in order to be connected in one heart, but to come to a concept of one heart is mandatory on every level.
S. Will we be able to reach that one heart without egoistic filters?
R. Why without egoistic filters?
S. Because otherwise how can we become one desire to give completely?
R. We will come to it, we will come to it.
32. S. (01:16:29) You said there has to be an agreement in the whole ten that we have other friends except for the ten that we also work on them to bring them closer. What did you mean exactly?
R. I do not remember what exactly I was talking about.
33. S. (01:17:04) If we come to the ten with something happy so it’s a reward for my ego, do I always have to come to the ten through coarseness?
R. It depends on your preparation. If you are ready and come to the ten with good energy, good power to connect you attain something, if you don’t have this preparation then you come kind of crawling to the meeting, you don’t know exactly why. You need to really exhaust yourself, extract yourself to a state where everything is clear, everything is in the right drawer, this and that, this for, this against and what I need to do as a result.
S. We scrutinize it when we’re in the ten and we scrutinize it together, we live with it.
R. Good for you.
34. S. (01:18:35) According to what is written, that he saw the songs of praise and the friends that stood before them, what is the purpose of looking at the gifts, that Malchut looks at the gifts?
R. Malchut wants to reach adhesion with ZA, with her vessels. If ZA is entirely in giving then Malchut has to be entirely in receiving in order to bestow, and then she too will be in giving. This is what needs to happen.
35. S. (01:19:38) Beyond uniting with the bride Rabbi Shimon invited the students to decorate the bride. So for us to unite should we bring a decoration, what should I bring?
R. You need to put on a makeup of intentions to bestow even though you are entirely in the will to receive. This is called decorations of the bride, the bride and the groom together in order to connect them. Everyone knows why the bride goes under the wedding canopy, the Huppah, she wants to belong to a man, she wants to become pregnant, have children. This is the natural way that the Creator created in a woman and this is how we need to relate nicely, correctly, with respect to all those forms of the will to receive that awaken in a woman.
36. S. (01:21:20) I feel that you are going through a great battle for us, to keep guard upon us and unite us. How can we as a ten, Bnei Baruch help you?
R. The most important thing for us is to feel inside one goal. And that we attain this one goal through one effort, one concerted common effort between us and then there is no problem. As it’s written about the Torah, one who studies, one who does, the whole Torah is in his heart. So we will do this and we will come to it.
37. S. (01:22:26) Once you told us about a problem you had and you turned to Rabash and he said why you didn’t ask? So I paid attention that there is a request in the depth of the heart that always gets an answer. On the other hand it’s always hard to demand from the bottom of the heart. Why is it like that? If we see the Creator is great, why is it so hard to ask from him?
R. What can I tell you? There are all kinds. It all depends on the level of connection with the friends. You need to understand that we have no other source of strength that we can receive other than the friends. Alright, we are already extended the time of the first lesson. Let’s take a break for the song and continue with the next lesson.