FRIDAY: HOCHMA-TIKKUN CHATZOT תקון חצות – LESSON WITH RAV MICHAEL LAITMAN

READING: FROM MIDNIGHT TO DAWN FRIDAY

Rabash. What Is the Meaning of the Purification of a Cow’s Ashes, in the Work?. 23 (1991)

LESSON MATERIAL

What Is the Meaning of the Purification of a Cow’s Ashes, in the Work?

Article No. 23, 1991

RASHI interprets, “This is the statute of the law”: “Because Satan and the nations of the world taunt Israel, to say, ‘What is this Mitzva [commandment/good deed] and what is its reason,’ therefore, it is written about it, ‘It is a statute, a decree before Me; you have no permission to doubt it.’ ‘And have them take for you’: It will always be named after you. ‘A red cow’: This can be compared to the son of a maidservant who soiled the king’s palace. They said, ‘Let his mother come and clean up the feces.’ Similarly, let the cow come and atone for the calf.”

We should understand what the matter of the burning of the cow, whose ashes purify, implies to us in the work. Also, we should understand the matter of answering those who ask questions about the point of this red cow. Normally, when someone asks a question he receives an answer that the asking person can accept. Yet, here he asks, what is the point of the cow, and the answer is “statute,” “decree.” Is this answer acceptable? And we should also understand why he says that it is a statute and then gives the allegory about the cow, “Let his mother come and clean up her son,” which implies that there is already a reason for it, which is that the mother will clean up her son.

We should understand all this in the work. It is known that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations, and this is why the Creator created in the creatures a desire and yearning to receive pleasure. However, in order for the creatures not to feel shame while receiving delight and pleasure, since if they are ashamed, the pleasure will be incomplete, there was a correction that a person does not receive the delight and pleasure for man’s own pleasure, meaning in order to enjoy the King’s gift. Rather, it is to the contrary—it is for the Creator to enjoy His will being done by their receiving pleasure from Him. In other words, since the Creator wants to do good to His creations, he observes the commandment of the Creator. Otherwise, for himself, he would relinquish the pleasure. It follows that there is no matter of shame here since everything he does is for the sake of the Creator and not for his own benefit.

However, Baal HaSulam gave another explanation concerning why we must do everything in order to bestow, since by nature, when a person is in high spirits and enjoys life, he has no need to make efforts and obtain more than he has, if the property that he has gives him complete satisfaction. Hence, since spiritual pleasures satisfy a person, and even the smallest degree in spirituality provides more satisfaction than any corporeal pleasure, a person would be content with little and would have no need to obtain the NRNHY in his soul.

But when a person works in order to bestow, when all his work is only in order to bring contentment to his Maker, it follows that when one obtains some spiritual degree and takes that pleasure because the Creator will enjoy it, he cannot say, “Master of the world, I do not want a higher degree than I have, since all the pleasures I am receiving are only because I want to please You, and I have given you plenty of pleasures already, and I do not want You to enjoy too much; I have given You enough, and I do not want to give You any more.”

We should know that when one receives in order to bestow, he receives a continually greater taste in bestowing contentment upon his Maker. As a result, a person cannot say, “I do not want to receive any more pleasures because I am settling for little.” It turns out that working for the sake of the Creator causes one to have to receive a higher degree each time, since he cannot say to the Creator, “I have already given You plenty of pleasures and I cannot give You any more.” This is why we must work in order to bestow.

There is another explanation why we must work in order to bestow: It is because of disparity of form. In spirituality, equivalence of form is called “unification,” Dvekut [adhesion], and disparity of form causes “distance” and “separation.” And since the main thing that one should strive for in life is to cling unto Him, since man should depict to himself that there is nothing more important in the world than to be in the King’s palace, through equivalence of form, as our sages said about “cling onto His attributes,” “As He is merciful, so you are merciful,” by this a person enters the King’s palace and is rewarded each time with speaking with the King.

It follows that on the whole, there are three reasons why we need to work for the sake of the Creator and not for our own sake. It is written about it, “Blessed is our God, who has created us for His glory.” We should understand why we thank the Creator for creating us for His glory and not for ours, since it makes sense that if He had created us for our glory, all creations would have blessed Him. Yet, the verse says that we must thank Him for creating us for His glory. What is our benefit in this?

The answer is that we must know that the Creator does not need us to give Him anything; the whole purpose of creation is only for the sake of the created beings, as it is written, “His desire to do good to His creations.” In order for the creatures to be able to receive the abundance for the three above reasons, for they can prevent the purpose of creation from being fully achieved, 1) because of shame, 2) in order for man not to settle for little, but each one should obtain the NRNHY in his soul, 3) because of Dvekut, which is equivalence of form, one should work in order to bestow, like the Creator.

It follows that the Creator created us and gave us the Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] by which we can come to do everything in order to have the glory of the Creator. It follows that when we bless Him for creating us for His glory, it means that He has guided us and gave us the means by which to be able to work for His glory. By this we can achieve the purpose of creation, called “His desire to do good to His creations.” This is as our sages said, “The Creator said, ‘I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.’” These are the means by which we can come to do everything for His glory. This is why we thank Him for it and say, “Blessed is our God, who created us for His glory.”

In order for one to be able to work in order to bestow, meaning to do things not for his own benefit, we were given work in mind and in heart. “In mind” means that one should go above what the mind and reason obligate him to do. This is called “above reason,” meaning that he believes although his intellect and reason disagree with what he wants to do. That is, we were given the Mitzva [sing. of Mitzvot] of faith above reason, which says that what reason tells us to do, we do not obey, and the faith, where we are commanded to believe what the Torah says, this is what we do, and we say that faith is of the utmost importance, and what reason and intellect obligate us to do are of inferior importance. Certainly, we should follow the one who is more important, and this is called “faith above reason.”

But in faith, too, we should make three discernments:

1) For example, if a person gives to his friend $1,000, and the person accepts it, and he is completely sure and believes, since this man is my friend, and a meticulous person, so if he gives the money, there must be $1,000 there, and there is no need to count. This is called “faith below reason.” In other words, he believes him because his reason does not object to what he believes, meaning there is no contradiction between believing him and the reason. It follows that to him, faith is below reason, and the reason is more important. That is, he believes him because reason does not object. However, if this is in contrast to reason, he will probably not believe. This is still not regarded as faith above reason.

2) He tells him, “Here is $1,000.” The receiver counts it three times and sees that there is the stated amount there and says to the giver, “I believe you that there is that amount here, as you say.” Certainly, this does not count as faith.

3) He counts the $1,000 three times and sees that one dollar is missing, but he says to the giver, “I believe you that there is $1,000 here. Even though the reason and the intellect say that there is less here, he says that he believes. This is called true “above reason.” However, maintaining faith above reason, meaning saying, “I annul my reason, and the fact that I counted three times does not matter, but I believe with faith above reason,” meaning that the faith is more important than the reason, this is hard work.

By this we will understand that the faith that one should have in the Creator where he annuls his reason and what it tells him, by saying, “My reason will be as annulled as the dust of the earth,” this is considered that he annuls his view from before the view of Torah. This called “the work of the mind.”

Also, there is the work of the heart. The heart is called “desire.” Since man was created with a nature of desire to receive for one’s own sake, meaning to enjoy life, when he is told that he should work for the sake of the Creator, it is against nature, so why is this needed? A person needs to do everything for the sake of the Creator for the three above reasons, and this is why it is special work, for by this a person knows that the fact that he wants to do everything for his own sake, since man was born with a nature of will to receive for himself, he must divide his work in two manners: 1) in the mind, which is that one should pay attention to the state of his faith. Yet, in faith, a person can work in order to receive reward, meaning to observe Torah and Mitzvot because it will later reward him, meaning that he will have benefit for himself from this, and he will therefore remain separated.

Hence, there is another special work called “heart,” which is “love of others.” If he works only on love of others, he will still remain outside of Kedusha [holiness], since love of others is not the purpose of creation, for the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations, meaning for the creatures to receive from the Creator the delight and pleasure. But if they have no faith, how can they receive anything from the Creator when they have no faith in the Creator? Hence, the work must be in two ways.

However, Baal HaSulam said that the fact that we must go with faith, and the Creator does not let us serve Him by the way of knowing, is also in order for the work not to be for one’s own sake, since if He were revealed to the creatures and they would not need faith, it would be impossible to do anything for the sake of the Creator. We can see how difficult it is to receive corporeal pleasures only in order to bestow, and it is much more so with spiritual pleasures, for in a spiritual pleasure, even a small bit has more pleasures than corporeal pleasures, so he will certainly not be able to receive in order to bestow. Hence, there is work in two ways: 1) in mind, 2) in heart.

Accordingly, we should interpret what we asked, What is the meaning of the purification of a cow’s ashes, in the work? Our sages said, “Because Satan and the nations of the world taunt Israel, to say, ‘What is this Mitzva?’” the answer is that this is why he wrote about it, “It is a statute.” We asked, What is the answer that can be accepted, since they are asking why this is so, and it makes sense that we must answer so that the one who is asking will understand why. But what is the answer? “It is a statute, a decree before Me; you have no permission to doubt it.”

The thing is that since the order of the work is that we must begin the work in the mind, meaning take upon ourselves faith above reason, therefore, if the nations of the world do not ask, What is this Mitzva? but only that he takes upon himself faith, that he believes above reason, this is regarded as faith of the first kind, which we said above was like a person who gave him $1,000 and he believes him that the sum is as stated and does not count them.

But when they come and ask, What is this Mitzva and what is its reason, it is similar to faith of the third kind, of which we said that it is when he does count them, and his counting falls short, yet he believes him above reason, meaning he cancels his reason and intellect before the giver. This is called “faith above reason.” Hence, precisely when the nations of the world in one’s body ask what is this Mitzva and what is its reason, since the body feels no taste in that which is above the intellect and reason, hence, the true and correct answer is to reply to the body that he believes that these questions were sent to him from above so that now he will be able to observe the Mitzva of faith above reason. Hence, the correct answer is specifically because it is a statute and decree. At that time, it is forbidden to give the body reasonable answers about why he wants to work for the benefit of the King.

It follows that precisely through the reply of statue and decree, he can advance in the work of the Creator. Although he sees that he cannot overcome the arguments of the nations of the world, he should believe above reason about that, too, that the fact that he cannot overcome is not because he has a weak character and this is why he cannot overcome, but rather that this is what is desired above—that he will not be able to overcome.

And the reason is specifically that by being unable to overcome, he now receives an opportunity to pray that the Creator will help him overcome. The benefit of this is that specifically through the help from above, it is possible to be rewarded with the NRNHY in his soul, since each time he receives help, it is by receiving an illumination from above. It follows that now he has an opportunity to be rewarded with the Gadlut [greatness/adulthood] of the soul because he has a need for the Creator to help him. It is known that The Zohar says, that His help is in giving him from above a soul.

Therefore, one should be careful when the body comes and asks, “Why must you exert in Torah and Mitzvot if you see that you feel no taste in them?” A person should not think of ways to answer intellectually, but rather tell the body, “I am thankful to you for approaching me with these arguments, since I am saying that reasonably speaking, you are correct, meaning that from the perspective of common sense, I should be sitting still. Yet, I am working above reason, and although you are not letting me overcome, I do want to overcome as much as I can. Therefore, I am asking for the help of the Creator so I can prevail over you. This must be the best opportunity, for by this I can be awarded entry into Kedusha and to do everything in order to bestow. It follows that the reply, “It is a statute, a decree before Me,” is the real answer in order for a person to advance in the work and achieve permanent faith, for the Creator to help him be rewarded with mind and heart.

According to the above, we can interpret what we asked, that on one hand, he says that a cow is a statute without any reason, but then our sages give a reason through the allegory about “the son of a maidservant who soiled the king’s palace. They said, ‘Let his mother come and clean up the feces.’ Similarly, let the cow come and atone for the calf.” Thus, they do give a reason for the red cow, and the answer is that the mother will come and clean up her son. This is the answer to the red cow being a statute without reason. It means that the sin of the calf was as it is written in The Zohar (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Item 14), “Those who sinned with the calf said about, ‘These [ELEH] are your gods, O Israel,’ since they blemished that clothing and the abundance went out to other gods.” This means that they wanted to receive the light of Hochma without a clothing of Hassadim, which is regarded as not wanting to accept the clothing of Hassadim, called “faith above reason.”

Hence, it is about this that the commandment of red cow comes, which is all statute and decree, entirely above reason, for this cow is called “mother,” and if he corrects the sin of not wanting to go with faith above reason, by this the sin will be corrected. It follows that there is no reason for the red cow itself. On the contrary, since the matter of the red cow is entirely above reason, this will correct what they wanted with the sin of the calf, that it will all be within reason, when they said, “These are your gods, Israel.” It follows that the matter of the red cow is completely above reason, which indicates the matter of faith, which purifies the impure, since Tuma’a [impurity] comes from the will to receive for one’s own benefit, and the correction of exiting the will to receive is by accepting the work of faith above reason, for then one asks for the help of the Creator and by this, he emerges from the rule of the will to receive. This is called “the exodus from Egypt,” for only the Creator Himself delivered them from Egypt, as it is written, “I and not a messenger.”

It follows that the meaning of a red cow, whose ashes purify, ash indicates something that was cancelled, such as after the burning of the cow, when only ashes remain, implying the annulment, once a person has annulled his reason and his will before the will of the Creator. At that time, a person is rewarded with the will of the Creator, which is to bestow. When a person has the desire to bestow, he is called “a pure man,” for he does not do anything unless it brings contentment to his Maker.

According to the above, we should interpret what is written (in Yotzer, for the portion, “Cow”), “to purify the impure, to defile the pure with saying, ‘holy.’” We should understand how there can be two opposites in the same subject. In the work, we should interpret that when one begins to prepare oneself to take upon himself faith above reason, he is immediately defiled. That is, before he began this work, when he worked in order to receive reward, he felt that he was righteous. That is, he saw that he was observing Torah and Mitzvot and did not find within him any flaw. Hence, he knew that he was pure and did not have any Tuma’a. He was only concerned about others—that they are not walking in the path of the Creator, and he wanted to give the faith, but they would not listen. But concerning himself, he knew that he had enough faith to dispense to several people, if they only wanted to receive.

But when he begins the work of bestowal and to believe in the Creator above reason, he sees the truth, that he is immersed in self-love and is devoid of faith. It follows that now he has become impure. This is called “to defile the pure.” But afterward, he is rewarded with “to purify the impure.”

LESSON

Morning Lesson August 23, 2023

Transcription is made from simultaneous translation, which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio

Part 1:

Rabash. Article No. 23, (1991). What Is the Meaning of the Purification of a Cow’s Ashes, in the Work?

Reading Article (00:40) “RASHI interprets, “This is the statute..”

1. S. (34:05) I want to ask about the third state that he describes here about ‘faith above reason’ and the one-thousand dollars. If he counts and he sees that there’s a deficit, why is it still considered ‘above reason,’ if he did count?

R. What does it say? The third state? Dudi, can you read it, please.

Reading “The Third State” (34:44) “He counts the one-thousand dollars..”

R. (35:12) Yes, he counted. He knows what it is, it’s nine-hundred and ninety-nine and he receives it and takes it as a thousand dollars based on what? Because, they obligate him. Because he decided to? Why did he even count it?

S. If he counts, where is the above reason here? Why did the fact that he doesn’t simply give him the envelope and takes it and says, “It’s one thousand dollars.” Why does he open it up and count it?

R. If he doesn’t count he has no reason. If he doesn’t count his reason is not here. But if he counted, then he has his reason, that it’s nine-hundred and ninety-nine and he takes it as a thousand, then there’s a gap between the desired state and the present state.

S. So, what is the height of his faith? This one dollar that’s missing, that’s his ability to be in above reason?

R. The height of his faith in this case is one dollar.

S. And with faith above reason you have to check it within reason in order to rise above reason?

R. Otherwise, how will you have faith above reason. You need a foundation.

S. And the very fact that you check, doesn’t it make it so that you’re not adhered to the one that’s giving it to you?

R. No, you can’t determine anything if you’re not checking it.

S. So it turns out that above reason is always based on checking it’s not going with your eyes shut?

R. Yes, yes. That’s why it is called above reason.

S. So, where is bestowal here? I don’t get it. Where is faith here, your adhesion the one that’s giving it to you?

R. In the one dollar or it could even be in nine-hundred and ninety-nine dollars. It depends on how much you check, how much you find.

S. So, if anything that happens first, you check it within reason, and only then you can take it above reason?

R. You must. You must do it like that; without it there’s no ‘above.’

S. What is this force that enables him to go above reason? After you checked and you saw that it’s missing, it’s lacking, you can see that it’s lacking? What is the force that enables you to go above reason?

R. Adhesion in the Creator. You must accept Him above your own logic.

S. So your adhesion, this is your ‘faith above reason?’

R. Not as I feel and know but like Him.

S. And in no stage do we cancel the fact that there is only nine-hundred and ninety-nine dollars there?

R. You can’t cancel it because without it you don’t have ‘above reason’.

2. S. (39:24) Seemingly, there is faith in Providence. The Providence is that He Is Good And Doing Good, that’s one kind. There is faith that I interpret as the force of connection and bestowal that is more important than the force of reception which is reason. These are different kinds of work?

R. Yes.

S. Because here in practice I need to see that the acts of connection that I do in the ten are more important than the fact that I don’t have any taste within reason. My reason says, “There is no taste in it.” Seemingly, there is something, Providence, that comes to the person from above and he seemingly needs to, within reason, he can’t justify it, so he has to go above reason. It seems like two different kinds of faith, right?

R. Yes.

3. S. (40:16) Let’s say that I counted it and I know that a dollar is missing and I do it above reason but shouldn’t I tell my friend that a dollar is missing? Even though I believe that I’m certain that there’s one-thousand dollars there, I don’t tell him there’s a dollar missing. I’m lying to him and I’m also lying to myself.

R. No.

S. So should I tell him a dollar is missing even though I believe all of his intentions were correct and good and he is certain that is one-thousand dollars there?

R. He’s certain that there’s a thousand there, so what will I get by telling him that there’s actually nine-hundred and ninety-nine there?

S. Well, otherwise I’m seemingly lying to myself and I’m lying to him when I say there’s one-thousand dollars there.

R. Seemingly, earthly, corporeally, literally it’s true.

S. How is it in spirituality?

R. In spirituality you are dealing with the Creator. He gave it. He said. You accept it and you do it.

4. S. (41:37) What is this faith complete with respect to this dollar? The dollar is missing, we see it within reason?

R. If you miss nine-hundred and ninety-nine.

S. So I have nine-hundred and ninety-nine, it doesn’t matter. When is the faith complete, in what? If they give me wholeness in that there is one-thousand dollars? But it’s missing, I know it’s missing and that’s why I don’t manage to understand here, what does faith give me here?

R. Faith lets you complete it with the Creator.

S. What does it mean to complete it with the Creator?

R. You accept his conclusion, I don’t know how to say it, the way it is. You look at creation through the eyes of the Creator.

S. This dollar that’s missing it’s like a deficiency, something that wasn’t filled in me. I was expecting one-thousand dollars and I received nine-hundred and ninety-nine, I have one dollar missing now. So what I heard Rav say is that I complete this gap, this deficiency, deficit, this complementation is this what’s called faith?

R. Yes, but that’s with one dollar and if it’s more?

S. I guess it progresses.

R. No, no, no, it doesn’t simply advance. In the envelope you got there’s one dollar in place of nine-hundred and ninety-nine, in place of one thousand, so what do you do?

S. I’m asking, “That’s how I started?” What is the complementation with the faith, what does it give the person, does it let the person believe that He Is Good And Doing Good, even though I feel right now, that He is not good in doing good?

R. You complete it from your vessels that are lacking the illumination of correction.

S. Maybe this is related to another question that I have about this part where he says that faith above reason is the light of Hassadim he says that there?

R. I’m not going to get into the light of Hassadim.

5. S. (44:14) Who determines if the Creator enjoys or he doesn’t enjoy an action that I do? It seems like we can perform the same action for my own benefit or the same question or action with the correct setup of thinking about it can be for the benefit of the Creator. So how can I know what’s the purpose of my action?

R. Meaning, you wish to bring us down from how much we are missing to the matter of how in my attitude I can give more contentment. When do I delight the Creator more?

S. In general not even giving more but what means, what vessels do I have to know? A baby doesn’t think about bestowing to his mother. He doesn’t bestow. He wants candy, he has pleasure, he doesn’t think about giving her contentment by receiving it, accepting it.

R. We say that a baby has an ounce of intellect and he wants to do something to his mother with it. That’s what this is all about.

S. When a certain emotion of love begins to develop, let’s say with this emotion of love you can complete things, you can do an irrational action for you in order to gain some credit, some points of love, to cause love to the other. So I guess it’s like that but here it seems like there’s some kind of overcoming where you’re going with pride against your ego and you’re saying, “I’m going to buy a cow for one-thousand dollars and burn it and the Creator will enjoy it. I have no means to measure, to assess this action from the perspective of the Creator, from His eyes. I can say, “I behave foolishly” from the perspective of this world it’s meaningless but certainly it gives pleasure Above. Who determines, how do I know?

R. Yes, the actions are illogical.

6. S. (46:48) Let’s say, I receive an envelope, there’s eight-hundred dollars there and one of those is missing. I go to buy a computer for ten, I want to buy a computer at a cost of one-thousand dollars and I don’t have this required sum. What happens in that state?

R. What are you asking?

S. I’m asking how far should I go with this above reason because now you need to buy a computer for the ten you don’t have the money, you’re a hundred dollars short. So I’m going above reason but I can’t buy the computer?

R. You can’t buy it, so what’s the question?

S. Two-hundred dollars are missing?

R. Yes.

S. So I can’t buy the computer: it costs one-thousand dollars?

R. I understand, so what do you do?

S. That’s what I’m asking.

R. Nothing, go home to where you came.

7. S. (47:42) The deficit of the one dollar, this vessel remains empty and a new vessel develops or this same vessel undergoes a certain correction?

R. This vessel undergoes correction; so the Creator completes it.

S. And it is felt that the result of rising to faith above reason, it is felt inside of the deficiency that you feel within reason?

R. Yes.

8. S. (48:43) I need to learn how to count what the friends can give me. I need to value, appreciate what they have to give me. How do I count it?

R. He’s not saying anything about it here, they don’t explain it.

S. And what do the friends have to give me?

R. What they have to give, what I have to give as well, if this is group work, the fact that we’re all giving we’re all bringing our coins.

S. And what are these coins? What do I expect from each and every friend that he will give me?

R. [no translation]

S. You expect every friend to bring like yourself, his part in the common vessel. As for myself, should I expect that I will pay something?

R. From yourself, of course you must discover how much you owe and add to the common pot, yeah.

S. And the feeling that I didn’t pay enough, I, with myself need to work as if I pay everything to the friends?

R. Those are completely different questions. What are you doing with your feeling? You stole the fact from the group. We’re not talking about that here, it’ll only confuse us.

9. S. (50:38) Where can a person tell that he’s going above reason and lying to himself?

R. If he’s going against his reason then I guess he’s going above reason.

10. S. (51:00) What is the difference between annulment in the mind or should the annulment be in the mind and in the heart simultaneously?

R. Yes.

S. What does it mean to keep Torah and Mitzvot in ‘faith above reason’?

R. Again.

S. What does it mean to keep Torah and Mitzvot in ‘faith above reason’?

R. Meaning I keep all the laws of connection between all the created beings with the force of bestowal which is above the force of reception.

11. S. (51:44) How do we reach permanent faith? What are the stages in reaching that?

R. We’ll learn about this. There are many details in this.

12. S. (52:00) What does it mean to be worthy of being rewarded with the NRNHY in his soul?

R. To become worthy of the NRNHY in my soul I have to prepare vessels for it.

13. S. (52:15) It seems like this line of being in faith above reason is a line that continues all the time. When does this process end of the need to rise above reason?

R. That is indeed only the end of the path.

14. S. (52:37) Is anything that you lack within reason can be completed with faith above reason?

R. Everything.

15. S. (52:53) When we annul ourselves and we rise above reason, is this permanent work in justifying the Creator?

R. Yes.

16. S. (53:08) What is the best way for us to depict to ourselves: what does it mean to be in the King’s palace?

R. To reach complete faith.

17. S. (53:25) For what reason does the will to bestow disappear and how do we bring it back?

R. I don’t understand again.

S. For what reason does the will to bestow disappear and how do we bring it back?

R. The will to bestow disappears so that we will renew it in a greater state or a higher degree and then we bring it back.

18. S. (54:09) How am I supposed to walk in a single line in the work with both the mind and the heart?

R. Inside the friends. In the connection with the friends.

19. S. (54:47) In order for a person to reach permanent faith it says in the article that this is the Creator’s quality and the person should constantly work on faith, right?

R. He needs to work on it permanently, all the time to strengthen himself.

20. S. (55:29) There’s a scrutiny here about the translation of ‘above reason,’ how should we understand what is reason? Is it logic, common knowledge when we translate it, how to translate it? As knowledge, as reason?

R. All together, logic, rationality, knowledge. It’s all together, intellect. Yes, intellect, also everything that a beast has rationally.

S. And about this red cow, what is the matter of red cow here?

R. The red color will talk about it later, that’s a separate matter.

21. S. (57:00) It says that faith comes after you check. It means we have to first check and rise above what we checked? So what do we have to check first so that later we could advance spiritually?

R. Whatever we have for the time being. What is the form of our vessel and what is the form that we need to be in and the gap between this and that. Between the desired and the present will determine for us our direction; to which state, to which degree we have, we should reach.

22. S. (57:52) Why did the Creator want us to start the spiritual work? Why do we have to pray for His help?

R. Because by this we adhere to Him, we come closer to Him.

23. S. (58:18) It says that even the smallest degree in spirituality gives more pleasure than all of the corporeal pleasures combined, how can we detect a spiritual pleasure?

R. How can we identify or detect spiritual pleasure? We get help from Above. When they give us spiritual pleasure and I realize it is spiritual. Otherwise, we will be bribed. We will just bow our heads before the pleasure.

S. So, during the Gathering of Friends, the feeling of the sentiment of joy and connection with the ten, is that state closer to the spiritual pleasure?

R. Yes, nevertheless we are coming closer. It doesn’t matter how much we understand or don’t understand it’s written about it, “It’s not the wise who learns.”

24. S. (59:33) The article aims us, directs us. We learn that we’re going towards bestowal, we’re going to do everything for the sake of heavens and this calculation regarding our personal benefit, regarding ‘faith above reason’ is more or less clear but what’s not so clear is that in the end, the matter of eternity and wholeness, this is the greatest pleasure there is. We can’t cancel this calculation, understood. Eventually you’ll still reach the greatest pleasure and that’s how we have to arrange ourselves relative to the Creator and the heavens. Ultimately you do everything because you’re going towards the greatest personal benefit?

R. When we will go through it it will become clear, when we reach it.

25. S. (01:00:41) The quality, this quality of seeing more, seeing the complete sum. What is it, I use my imagination or some force comes from Above and helps me?

R. The force comes from Above.

S. As an example, let’s say I have eleven people in my ten. Here in the lesson there are eight or nine, I see something is missing here as well, what should I do?

R. You don’t need to imagine anything, you work with them like a complete group.

S. How to work as if everyone is here?

R. As if there were twenty-five or fifty here, what does it matter?

S. That’s the question: How to do it, you have to invite some force?

R. You don’t need to draw, invite anything, you just have to relate to the others as if it’s a complete group.

S.  Is that a mutual feeling of wholeness that exists between us?

R. Yes.

S. But you constantly feel some deficiency, how to complete it?

R. Stop feeling that there is a deficit, that something is lacking.

S. It’s up to the ten?

R. It depends on each and every one who feels this deficiency. It is written that the minimum of many is two, meaning if there are two, then you’re already a group. All the rest depends on you.

26. S. (01:02:43) Are my efforts helping ease the work of ‘above reason’ of the friends?

R. Of course it helps, this is precisely what helps.

S. So it turns out that I help them reveal the point of the Creator relative to them, what it is exactly?

R. Yes.

S. So what am I asking, my efforts, do they grow or shrink the amount that the friends receive in the envelope or is it the Creator?

R. Depends on you and also on the Creator.

S. What ratio?

R. I don’t know.

27. S. (01:03:38) He writes in the first paragraph, “Just as the mother cleans up her son, the cow takes care of the calf.” What is he talking about?

R. It’s about the son of the cow, the calf, the child with respect to the mother.

S. He’s speaking about the calf. What does it mean to clean it, to wipe it?

R. To purify it.

28. S. (01:04:18) In what way do I fill or complete what’s missing in the envelope ‘above reason,’ how do I do it?

R. Shut your eyes and go with the friends.

29. S. (01:04:43) About the missing dollar, this is true ‘faith above reason?’ I want to know if what I’m saying is correct. That we have to justify the Creator and what Kabbalists are telling us, are writing to us even when we see that we are missing a dollar or one-hundred or more? Meaning, I have to justify the Creator in every state that’s happening?

R. Yes, yes, yes.

30. S. (01:05:45) The ashes of the red cow purify us from the state of the golden calf and is this the way to go in ‘faith above reason?’

R. Yes.

31. S. (01:06:15) Rabash after the finding ‘faith above reason,’ he speaks of the nations of the world, who are not asking about this commandment. Just like the first commandment and then he says that they are, they do ask and then of the third kind, meaning it all depends on the fact that these questions appear in the nations of the world. So what does it depend on, if those questions are revealed or not?

R. This comes from the Creator.

S. Yes but it turns out if those questions are revealed it’s a good sign?

R. Of course.

S. So there’s a danger here. How will I answer these questions and how to correctly prepare to answer them correctly?

R. Only together with the friends; there is no other way.