READING: BETWEEN AFTER MIDNINGHT AND DAWN MONDAY

Rabash. All of Israel Have a Part in the Next World. 3 (1987)

LESSON MATERIAL

All of Israel Have a Part in the Next World

Article No. 3, 1987

It is written in The Zohar, Noah (Item 2): “Come and see: ‘All of Israel have a part in the next world.’ It asks, ‘What is the reason?’ It says, ‘Because they keep the covenant on which the world stands, as it is written, ‘If My covenant is not day and night, I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth.’’ Therefore, Israel—who are keeping the covenant because they have taken it upon themselves—have a part in the next world.”

We should understand, since first he says, “All of Israel have a part,” meaning that anyone who is called by the name, “Israel,” without any preconditions, has a part in the next world. But afterwards he interprets that not all of Israel. Rather, he sets conditions, that only those who are keeping the covenant. He brings evidence from the verse, that it refers to the keepers of the covenant, by what is written, “If My covenant is not day and night, I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth.” We should also understand that the verse, “If My covenant is not day and night,” refers to the covenant.

It is written in Pesachim (p 68b): “Rabbi Elazar said, ‘Were it not for the Torah, heaven and earth would not exist,’ as it was said, ‘If My covenant is not day and night, I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth.’” RASHI interprets “If My covenant is not day and night” to mean the study of Torah, of which it is written, “And you shall contemplate it day and night.” Therefore, it means that the covenant is called ‘Torah.’ And here The Zohar interprets that a covenant is circumcision, which keeps the covenant.

Concerning Abraham’s making of the covenant, as it is written, “And made the covenant with him,” our sages explained that the Creator helped the making of the covenant for he could not make the covenant alone. Rather, the Creator helped him. We should understand what it means in the work that he could not make the covenant without the Creator’s help.

It is written concerning Abraham and Avimelech, “And the two of them made a covenant.” Baal HaSulam asked, “If two people understand that it is worthwhile for them to love each other, why should they make a covenant? How does an act of seemingly signing a contract help? What does it give us?” Then he said, “It gives us that when we make a covenant we mean that since it is possible that something might separate them, they are making a covenant now, so that just as now they understand that there is love and equivalence between them, this covenant will persist even if afterwards things will come that should separate them. Still, the connection they are establishing now will be permanent. Accordingly, we should say that if afterwards things will come that should separate them, we should say that each one should go above reason and say that they will not notice what they see within reason, but go above reason. Only in this way can the covenant hold and there will be no separation between them.

It therefore follows that whether we say that the covenant is the Torah or that the covenant is circumcision, it does not mean that only this gives the covenant with the Creator that his covenant with the Creator will not part, meaning that his heart will be whole with the Creator. Rather, both the Torah and circumcision come to keep the making of the covenant, where a person’s heart must be whole with the Creator, and cling to Him with a stake that will never fall, as it is written, “If My covenant is not day and night, I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth.” This is so because the matter of the creation of heaven and earth was with the intention to do good to His creations, and the creatures cannot receive the delight and pleasure without equivalence of form, meaning that all his actions will be in order to bestow. Otherwise there will be separation between the creatures and the Creator.

This is why we were given two covenants—the circumcision and the covenant of the Torah—by which we can come to make a covenant with the Creator with faith above reason and will be able to do everything in order to bestow.

This is the meaning of “If My covenant is not,” meaning If I did not create the counsels by which to achieve equivalence of form, it would not be possible to receive the delight and pleasure, which is the whole purpose of creation, to do good to His creations. And if I did not prepare the ways by which to achieve equivalence of form, I would not need to create heaven and earth for they would not be able to receive any benefit from creation, and the whole of creation would be pointless because there would not be anyone who could enjoy it. On this covenant—that he made the covenant of the stake that will never fall—Abraham needed His help. This is the meaning of the Creator having to help him. And this is the meaning of “And made a covenant with him,” meaning that the Creator helped him be able to go above reason.

There are three discernments to make in the work above reason:

1. He does not feel any lack in his work, so as to have a need to go above reason.
2. He feels his deficiency, but he is as a female, meaning as feeble as a female, having no strength to overcome and go above reason.
3. He is regarded as a male. This means that he has the strength to overcome and go above reason.

1) For example, when a person wants to rise before dawn and is woken up, sometimes the person hears but does not pay attention and keeps sleeping. At that time there is no one who feels his deficiency because he immediately fell asleep and therefore had no time to think of his deficiency. For this reason, he is still not regarded as a human being, where it is possible to distinguish between male and female. Adam [man/human] comes from the words Ish Adama [man of the earth], meaning that he is tilling the land so as to yield crops and fruits to sustain people.

This can be said only of one who feels his deficiency, who begins to work and correct his deficiency. However, when one does not feel his deficiency, there is no one to speak of. That is, even if you tell him his deficiency he will not hear because he has many excuses for everything. Naturally, he has no room for prayer that the Creator will help him have the ability to come out of the obstructions coming to him.

2) When he is woken up he begins to think, “It’s true that I said to my friend to wake me up but when I said to my friend that I wanted to get up before dawn it was because I had some desire to get up and study; I craved the pleasure I would receive from the Torah. And even if I did not think that I would find great pleasure in studying Torah, I nevertheless did not have the suffering of having to get out of bed and give up the pleasure of rest. When I spoke to my friend about waking me up I was thinking only of the pleasure I could derive from studying Torah; this is why I asked him. But now that I am lying under the blanket, and if there is rain and wind outside, I certainly feel pleasure in the rest. But now I have to get up. How do I know that I will receive greater pleasure from learning Torah? For this reason, it is better for me to ‘Sit and do nothing,’ for certainty is preferable to doubt, since the rest certainly gives me pleasure, while studying Torah does not shine as pleasurable to me.”

However, afterward, thoughts come to him: “We learned that we have to go above reason, meaning not regard the amount of pleasure I will have and that this will be my gauge. Rather, we have to work for the Creator. So why am I calculating for myself, meaning how much I will gain from this? Instead, I should be calculating if the act I am doing is keeping the commandment of the Creator and He enjoys my heeding Him. And why do I have thoughts of self-love? But what can I do now, since I cannot overcome my thoughts?”

It follows that he is regarded as a servant of the Creator, who wants to overcome the alien thoughts, meaning that these thoughts are alien to the path of Torah. This is regarded as being a female, meaning that he is as feeble as a female, that he lacks the strength to overcome.

3) He is as a male, meaning has the strength to overcome. That is, when he is woken up, if thoughts come to him—“Why should you get up from the rest you are enjoying? You probably think that when you get out of bed and go study you will enjoy more than you are enjoying now, but how do you know that this is so?” It promptly advises him to test if this is so. But then it tells him: “What flavor are you now tasting in the study, that you are hoping to receive later?” and he immediately gets such flavors that the world grows dark on him, meaning that depictions of concealment come to him, which hide from him the vitality in the Torah. Then the body asks him: “Tell me, are these the states you long for?”

If he is a man, called “man of war,” he tells his body: “Everything you say is true. That is, according to your view, you are right. However, the foundation on which I am building the engagement in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] is above reason. This means that reason mandates that the will to receive delight and pleasure will determine whether or not it is worth working for, and above reason means that he is working in order to bestow. That is, the will to receive does not need to agree to it, but the desire to bestow determines.

This means that if he believes that the work he wants to do now will bring contentment to the Creator, he is promptly willing to do it, without any delays. And although the body claims the opposite, he still has the power to overcome it. This is called “male.”

However, after a person has completed these three discernments in the work—1) when he still does not feel his deficiency so as to ask the Creator to help him, 2) that he does feel his deficiency but has no strength to overcome, which is called “a female,” and 3) when he is a male, a man of war, meaning that he can overcome his deficiency—he comes to a state of Shabbat, meaning rest from his work. This is called “You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest.”

By this we can interpret, “These are the generations of Noah, a righteous man.” Noah is regarded as Naicha [Aramaic: “rest”], as it is written in The Zohar. This is why he is called “righteous,” since there is rest in him. The Zohar says, “Where there is work, there is Sitra Achra [other side]. Hence, naturally, one who is righteous cannot have work. It is as Baal HaSulam said, that where Kedusha [holiness] shines, a person is annulled as a candle before a torch, and it cannot be said there that the body has work because the Kedusha is the source of delight and pleasure.

However, when a person has some grip of the Sitra Achra, it clothes man with self-love, called “receiving in order to receive,” and on this there was a Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment and Kedusha cannot be revealed there. Only concealment is on this place, meaning that the delight and pleasure do not shine there, but to the contrary.

And saying, “For they are our lives and the length of our days, and we contemplate them day and night,” or when we say, “They are nicer than gold, than much fine gold, and sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb,” this is when a person has proper Kelim [vessels] for it, which are called “vessels of bestowal.” This gives us equivalence of form, at which time the reception of pleasures is in order to bestow. Otherwise, meaning if the light and abundance illuminated in vessels of reception, the receivers would become more remote from the Creator. The purpose is that we must cling to the Creator, as it is written, “And you who cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.”

It therefore follows that one who is righteous, there is no room there for the Sitra Achra, but there is a place of rest for the spirit [contentment]. This is the meaning of Shabbat, as it is written, “for in it He ceased and rested,” as due to the sanctity of Shabbat there is no room for work now.

However, our sages said (Avoda Zarah 3a), “The Creator said to them: ‘Fools, he who toiled on the eve of Shabbat shall eat on Shabbat. He who did not toil on the eve of Shabbat, from where will he eat on Shabbat?’”

This means that one who toiled, meaning had labor and toil with the Sitra Achra, who obstructed him from going on the path of Lishma, that is, during the work he felt that he could not overcome the evil in him, it is because he was still not rewarded with entering Kedusha. However, he believes that as soon as he enters Kedusha the Sitra Achra will be canceled as a candle before a torch and he will have no contact with the Sitra Achra. It follows that he knows he is missing one thing—for the Creator to help him and let him attain some Kedusha, and then everything will be fine.

For this reason, during the labor and the work he prays from the bottom of the heart that the Creator will help him. At that time he feels that without help from the Creator he will not attain a thing. This feeling that he has, that the Creator can help him, makes a Kli [vessel] in a person to receive the help from the Creator because a deficiency is called a Kli to receive filling. For this reason, the faith that he has in the Creator, that, as it is written, “You hear the prayer of every mouth,” makes the Kli to receive the help.

By this we will understand the matter of “He who did not toil on the eve of Shabbat,” meaning who did not work with himself to work in order to bestow and see that he cannot win alone, without the Creator’s help, naturally, he has no room for prayer, which is the Kli to receive His help. Since the rule is that there is no light without a Kli, we need preparation so as to have what to eat on Shabbat, for the six workdays are the preparation to receive the light of Shabbat, and Shabbat is considered the abundance extended to fill the empty Kelim awaiting His help.

It is as it is written, “The light in it reforms him,” as it is written about Shabbat, “All the judgments are impregnated by her, and none other govern all the worlds but her” (Kegavna on the night of Shabbat). Thus, since after the labor with the Sitra Achra, when they feel the deficiency, called Kli, they can receive the Shabbat, called “ceasing” and “rest.”

Now we can understand what we asked. He says there, “All of Israel have a part in the next world,” without any conditions. Afterward, he says it is specifically those who kept the covenant, and not all of Israel.

We should interpret the world Ysrael [Israel] to mean Yashar-El [straight to the Creator]. This means that in everything he does, he wants his work to be directly to the Creator and not for his own benefit. It is as we explained about the verse, “And there shall be no foreign God in you, and you will not bow to a strange God.”

Our sages said (Shabbat 105b), “Which is the foreign God in man’s body? It is the evil inclination.”

We should understand this. After all, the good inclination is also in a man’s body, as it is written (Zohar, Lech Lecha, Item 86), “‘For we are brothers,’ meaning the evil inclination and the good inclination are close to each other. One stands to one’s right and the other stands to one’s left. The evil inclination on the left, and the good inclination on the right.”

Thus, we see that the good inclination is also in man’s body. Therefore, what does it mean that they said that the evil inclination is in man’s body? We should interpret this according to our way: The evil inclination is concerned with, and aspires for everything that it does to enter his body, that the intention will be entirely for his own benefit, which is regarded as “into his own body.” Conversely, the good inclination strives that all his actions will be outside his body. This is considered that his whole aspiration is to come to doing all his works for the Creator and not for his own benefit. By this we can interpret the word Israel to mean Yashar-El—that all his actions will be only for the Creator.

Similarly, it is presented in the interpretation of our sages (Yerushalmi 9a): “Rabbi Levi said, ‘The heart and the eye are two mediators of sin, as it is written, (Proverbs), ‘Give Me your heart, My son, And let your eyes delight in My ways,’ said the Creator. If you give Me your heart and eyes I will know that you are Mine.’”

This means that when we say, “Who chooses His people, Israel,” when is one regarded as belonging to the people of the Creator? It is when a person places his eyes and heart there, meaning that everything he looks at and what the heart craves, he tries to make it all in favor of the Creator and not for his own benefit. This is called “You are Mine,” meaning “You belong to Me.” Then he is included in His people Yashar-El.

Accordingly, we should interpret “All of Israel have a part in the next world,” and afterwards he interprets who is regarded as Israel and says that only one who keeps the covenant on which the world exists is called Israel. Otherwise, meaning who does not keep the covenant by which the world exists does not belong to Israel but to the nations of the world.

And what is the covenant by which the world exists? It is that he makes a covenant with the Creator that all his works will be only to benefit the Creator. This is called “in order to bestow,” for specifically by this there will be existence to the world. This means that the world was created in order to do good to His creations, and as long as there is no equivalence of form, the delight and pleasure cannot clothe in the creatures.

It follows that the whole creation of the world, which was in order to do good to His creations, was in vain because there is no one to receive the delight and pleasure. However, through the covenant with the Creator the creatures will be fit to receive the delight and pleasure.

In order to achieve the covenant, there is the Torah and the circumcision, meaning that in everything we do we must intend that by this we will be rewarded with making a covenant with the Creator forever. Especially, we must believe that the Creator hears the prayer of every mouth, and by this we will be saved.

LESSON

Morning Lesson November 26, 2023

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

Part 1:

Reading Article. (00:46) “It is written in The Zohar..”

1. Rav’s Introduction: Thank you to the reader, I think that everyone got into it and absorbed something.

2. S. (38:12) How do we make a covenant with the Creator?

R. By doing what He wants, trying to keep acts of bestowal then we approach the Creator, we enter into connection with Him and we begin there to become children of Israel.

S. What is the connection, how is the covenant with the Creator expressed?

R. The covenant with the Creator as it says, as you signed a covenant with Him is that, “as He is merciful, you are merciful, meaning you are trying to learn His qualities and resemble them.

See in in

S. Another question, between the three discernments that he writes about in the article that he’s as feeble as a female and doesn’t have the strength to overcome or he’s not even considered human, what shifts him from having no powers to having powers?

R. That he wants to come closer to the Creator, he wants to reveal his deficiency where he is unlike the Creator and you wish to correct that deficiency, the difference between himself and the Creator and he wants to bestow to the Creator the way the Creator from the beginning wanted to bestow to him.

S. What gives a person the strength to shift from having no strength to having the strength to overcome, from a female to a male?

R. The attempting to do it, trying to do it. He wants to find such qualities that exist in the Creator that he is lacking and he’s asking the Creator to give him and this is really our work.

3. S. (40:57) He mentions two covenants: one is the covenant of Torah and the other is the circumcision, can you explain?

R. No, not more than what he said already.

4. S. (41:18) He writes about the feeling, when you have a feeling that the Creator can help you it’s already a Kli, a vessel?

R. Yes.

S. Is it already something that’s connected to the covenant, to your desire to be similar to the Creator or close to Him?

R. Yes, yes.

5. S. (41:47) What’s the difference between male and female in the work?

R. She has grown weak as a female that she wants to do something perhaps but she lacks the power to do it, and the male has the power and he’s trying to come closer to the Creator using those powers.

S. The power of the male in addition to the female is that he has the strength to ask of the Creator?

R. Yes.

S. That makes him a male?

R. Yes, there’s other things but let’s say for now.

S. In other words they both understand the male and female that he is powerless by himself?

R. Yes.

S. Except a male also remembers that there’s someone to ask for the strength?

R. Yes.

6. S. (42:50) What does it mean to be wholehearted with the Creator?

R. Whatever the Creator is asking for you, make it as your primary desire.

S. Meaning I have to constantly ask Him to give me the strength of bestowal and love the way He gives us?

R. Like, yes.

S. And stick to it all the time through the friends?

R. Yes.

7. S. (43:23) It is written, “What can I do now since I cannot overcome my thoughts.” It follows that he is regarded as working serving the Creator and he wants to overcome the alien thoughts but he’s considered as a female, meaning he is as feeble as a female and doesn’t have the strength to overcome?

R. Seemingly a desire exists but the ability to keep lacks.

S. So what?

R. So you pray, you ask to have the power but at least a desire is there.

8. S. (44:13) The three states he gives, one is that he doesn’t feel the deficiency, as if he is not doing any work so he splits into two, either he does have the strength to overcome or he doesn’t have the strength to overcome?

R. Yes.

S. So does it come one after the other, that first there’s no strength and then there is the strength?

R. It looks like it, yes.

S. So you can’t run away from it, there will always be a state where we are powerless and we will have to come to the state where we have the strength?

R. Typically, yes.

S. And how is this connected to the ten, what’s the difference to the work in the ten and working on the strength?

R. Each one in the ten goes through these things until more or less everyone is experienced and they can understand one another and then you connect.

S. Something else, maybe it’s connected to it, he speaks about in terms of faith above reason, vessels of bestowal and work within working in order to bestow. How do they connect, what’s the order, what’s the relation between the three terms?

R. All of it is tied to the transition from the will to receive to the will to bestow that’s in a person and we need to see how, how we’re going through this style of each shall help his friend and how much we invite those powers, we pray, we ask.

S. Are they connected to each other and constantly tied to each other or are they degrees that work in order to bestow?

R. Of course these are degrees, those are states, that’s what he’s telling you, even though after man finishes the stages of the work one, two and three, he enters the quality of Shabbat.

9. S. (46:20) Can we say that the second phase, that he’s as feeble as a female is what builds him a vessel, deficiency to turn to the Creator?

R. Yes.

S. He says during the labor and work he prays from the bottom of the heart that the Creator will help him and he feels that without the assistance from the Creator he will attain nothing.

R. Yes.

S. And that feeling that he has that the Creator can help him makes in a person a vessel. So basically all the times we try and don’t succeed are for our sake, our benefit, it gives us the feeling that we have no power to do anything and we have to turn to the Creator?

R. Let’s say so.

10. S. (47:14) In terms of adhesion with the Creator which is preferable: how is the state of male preferable to the state of female, if at all?

R. You need both. You can have feeble as a female, that gives him a reason to pray, so he needs to have both qualities. When these two qualities connect in a person it draws into him the upper force, then he has a male baby born.

S. So it takes both of them in the work?

R. Yes.

S. A stable person has the strength to overcome but the Creator gives it to him in such a way that he feels as though he, himself is keeping it, as if by his own strength?

R. Yes.

S. What’s the right approach to it regarding the state of male, when I get the strength and I manage to overcome, there’s still the matter that I have to add some additional submission in this, what addition should I add to it?

R. He needs to bring forth a sacrifice as we call it if he thinks he can do it by himself.

S. What does it mean, I have to bring a sacrifice?

R. He has to come closer to the Creator, it’s as if it’s not me and not by the might of my hand.

S. So I have to add the awareness?

R. Yes.

S. And to add, what should I call it, to add what, devotion, what?

R. Subjugation.

11. S. (49:18) Rav, it says there are two conditions here to be Israel, it says there are two covenants: the covenant with the Torah and with circumcision. What does that mean for us in the work, what covenant should we make in order to be Israel?

R. Why not those same two?

S. What are those two for us?

R. We work only with the power of connection between us and from the connection between us we go to connection with the Creator.

S. And what does it mean to make a covenant on this?

R. I wish to form a bond, a connection that will not change and will remain for eternity.

S. Between us, between us and the Creator, we in the ten, between the ten and the Creator? Where is the covenant signed or maybe it’s a person’s inner work.

R. It’s an inner work in each and every one but later it becomes more of a group work. It’s a bit too early to explain it. We’ll see it from the articles.

12. S. (50:45) If we can elaborate on what are the two covenants: what is the meaning of the circumcision and what does it mean to make a covenant with the Torah?

R. There are many covenants, it’s not only those two and we will learn about them, we will, the covenant of light.

13. S. (51:15) It says here that how does an act of seemingly signing a contract help? What does this seemingly mean?

R. When we try to learn from the Creator all the qualities, all of His qualities that we reveal, He is merciful you be merciful, He’s compassionate, you be compassionate and so on and so forth and by that we come closer to Him and we’re capable of keeping the connection.

S. Is it a sort of acting, so the covenant is more or less an act and that is really true?

R. A covenant is the action of connection. Everything works according to the actions of connection between us and with the Creator; there’s nothing more than that. So we have these actions that are called this way, that covenant of the eyes, the circumcision, the covenant of the light, there are all kinds with that, typically we don’t use them.

S. And how can we come out of the state of seemingly, how can we make it true, that it really works for us, that it’s truly written on our hearts?

R. This is a true state where a person agrees to enter connection, with this special connection with the Creator called the covenant and he tries to keep the covenant, to maintain it. The covenant is connection, it’s a form of connection. So we have several degrees in the connection, we can say the Partzuf of Adam will build the Partzuf of the Creator, the points where they’re connected, these two Partzufim, we will learn about this.

14. S. (54:26) How to renew the covenant that was signed in the ten, correctly?

R. To renew the covenant is something that we have to do daily, several times a day, whenever we feel that we are drifting apart or we are forgetting that we harmed the covenant, then we have to renew it.

S. How can we keep the covenant? How do we strengthen it in the work in the ten?

R. We have to work on it constantly, to have that same connection between us and between us and the Creator.

15. S. (55:55) It is written that the Creator says if you give Him your heart and eyes I will know you are mine. He says he really wants to give his heart and eyes to the Creator but he can’t. So he is asking, in that case is my intention to give my heart and eyes to the Creator enough or do I have to do it in practice?

R. He doesn’t have to do anything but in practice with his eyes and or anything. He needs to try and be even more connected with the friends and then automatically by himself he would raise himself in the society and everyone in the society to do the decree of this covenant, this special degree which is the complete signing of the covenant of the Creator.

16. S. (56:56) What is the difference between the covenant with the Creator and the covenant with the friends in the ten?

R. First the covenant with the friends and from that covenant we rise to the degree of the covenant to the Creator. A covenant is connection. So, first what is close to us and later with the Creator, and certainly both of these are done by the Creator; He is bringing down the reforming light and we connect.

17. S. (57:55) It seems like those who are not advancing correctly see in the work a struggle and those who work correctly, see in the work, labor. What should happen so we change the terminology from effort to labor?

R. That’s along the way. We try to give it more forces, more attention and that’s how we see what actually changes.

18. S. (58:42) He writes that in the work above reason we have three states. One who has no deficiency or has no strength or he does have the strength to overcome. In a state where he has no deficiency he writes that even if he gets a deficiency, he doesn’t guard it and has no room for prayer. What does it depend, a person’s ability to see his deficiencies?

R. According to how much he’s connected to the friends and he feels through them.

19. S. (59:27) With your permission, he writes about the third stage that he becomes a man of war, meaning he can overcome his deficiency. He later details that Noah was wise and righteous, righteous in that he worked six days and on the seventh day he let the Creator complete what was missing. What was Noah missing in order to attain the next world?

R. I don’t know, why are you asking me about Noah? Ask on point.

S. What do we need in order to continue the work and be righteous and receive the third phase?

R. Greater connection between us.

20. S. (01:00:30) Yesterday in the morning lesson there was an important discussion on urgent matters among Bnei Baruch. A friend asked you if the members of your ten have a better chance to achieve spirituality than the rest of the tens and who is the most worthy of it. You answered the friend that no one has an advantage before the Creator. If among veteran friends, if they have such serious doubts and questions about continuing on the path does that mean that the Creator is creating for us such states on purpose so we can strengthen ourselves with faith above reason?

R. Of course, it all comes from the Creator and the Creator awakens these questions in each one when the time is right and in the right way.

21. S. (01:01:50) It is written the covenant in which the world stands, that covenant is not for us, it’s in order to realize something, meaning we have to look at it more broadly, so our covenant will enable the world to exist more correctly so the Creator can come to it. It’s not for us, in other words it’s for creation?

R. Yes, it is correct, none of the connections, in general, none of the corrections happen to those who actually do the correction but only those who depend on it.

22. S. (01:02:54) In the present state I feel fear because in everything I do I feel like I’m getting farther from the covenant. So the question is: how and what should I do in order to keep the covenant with the Creator or with my friends?

R. You feel more discernments in your connection with the group and with the Creator and that’s why it seems to you as if you’re moving farther away but it’s only because you’re adding discernments to the connection, so just keep going.

23. S. (01:04:10) A friend is asking, the covenant of Torah is it through the intention?

R. Yes, our work is in intentions, the entire work is in intentions.

24. S. (01:04:35) [no translation]

R. When I with my actions wish to reach bestowal to the Creator in practice that’s called a Covenant.

S. What does it mean in practice?

R. I want to reach this bestowal to the Creator in practice.

S. It’s just that it’s written that the covenant with the Creator is when I direct all my actions for the Creator. It’s like something lands on me, something that allows me to work for bestowal. So what is it, like an addition?

R. To attain this degree of connection with the Creator through all the friends.

25. S. (01:06:06) Rabash writes that the Shabbat is called the light that is suitable to fill the empty vessels that await the salvation of the Creator. What does it mean then to observe the Shabbat?

R. It means to prepare such vessels into which the light that belongs will enter. This is called he who labored on the eve of Shabbat will eat on Shabbat.

S. So it turns out that the covenant allows us to have these vessels permanently to be on Shabbat?

R. To reach Shabbat in constancy.

26. S. (01:07:10) Will Shabbat come after the 6,000 years?

R. What?

S. Will Shabbat come after the 6,000 years?

R. Yes, it will be only a Shabbat, a Sabbath. The correction of the world will be such that all the states will be on the level, on the degree of Shabbat, a day which is entirely Shabbat.

27. S. (01:08:03) What is the covenant of the Creator? What is His relation toward us in this covenant?

R. That we will be on His degree adhered to Him and in this way advance.

28. S. (01:08:35) Our question is this: what is the difference between Israel and ‘Israel will keep the covenant?’ Is there an Israel that doesn’t keep the covenant?

R. There’s no such thing Israel is called Yashar El, meaning those who are aimed straight at the Creator, otherwise they’re not. So each and every person regardless of who he is, if he acquires the intention to come closer to the Creator, to reveal the Creator he’s called Israel, Yashar El.

29. S. (01:09:31) Concerning making the covenant, should we say it in the mouth and if so is the beginning of the covenant in the ten?

R. Of course we need to reach the beginning of the covenant in the ten and later between the tens and later around the whole world.

30. S. (01:09:58) How do we come to achieve the state of being regarded as belonging to the people of the Creator so that our ties and past will work in favor of the Creator?

R. To connect between us and to establish the direction of our development straight toward the Creator, that’s it.

31. S. (01:10:49) Why, when a person fights against his evil inclination does he fall deeper into it?

R. To give him more and more negative discernments so he has the power to start climbing up from them, rising from them. That’s the way I understand it in this situation.

32. S. (01:11:34) What causes the transition from phase one to phase two, phase two to phase three? When we approach the third phase, what helps the transition happen?

R. We will feel it on ourselves. Now we need to delve deep into ourselves to feel that first discernment we might be in.

S. The article says we have to believe and faith, we need a different explanation, a deeper explanation and is it connected to those discernments?

R. This has to do with the feeling of the quality of faith in the Creator. For example, if you don’t completely feel the Creator how can you ask of Him? Therefore that initial feeling, maybe it’s weak but has to be present in the person nevertheless and from there you develop it.

S. So faith is my inner action?

R. No, I don’t think we need to resist the second discernment already.

33. S. (01:14:07) He writes here that the covenant is when we come to need the Creator but then he says that I receive the covenant from the Creator by going above my reason, so basically the covenant is a deficiency?

R. The Covenant, no.

S. A deficiency for the Creator?

R. I understand but no, it’s not a deficiency.

S. So what is the covenant?

R. Connection with the Creator.

S. And what am I supposed to do with it afterwards?

R. Afterwards, we’ll reach afterwards but the first stage is that you feel that you enter some kind of connection with the Creator.

S. Can I ask another question? He writes about the three conditions for working above reason. What is the first moment when a person knows I went above reason?

R. That he wants at any price to keep that connection with the Creator.

34. S. (01:15:31) On one hand we know that there are three conditions to pray, to the prayer; it’s a very specific state that a person reaches prayer. On the other hand he writes that the Creator hears the prayer of every mouth. How does that go hand in hand?

R. It goes, we’ll advance and we’ll see.

S. In what ways is this expressed that every mouth?

R. I just told you that we’ll see.

35. S. (01:16:06) I wanted to ask you: on one hand we built the covenant where we want to connect between us and to connect to the Creator; on the other hand we also make a covenant between us in the ten in general, to come to the lessons, to come to all the Zoom meetings. The question is whether a state comes where a person can’t come many times, not once or twice but if this repeats itself a few times where we cannot keep that covenant then how can this impact the advancement of the ten?

R. It really affects it a lot. The ten needs to search for a solution or replacement. It’s like in the army, a soldier falls in the battlefield so you need to fill the department.

S. But to do such a thing, it doesn’t happen, such a thing. You don’t do that in the ten where you fire someone if someone doesn’t come.

R. Why not? If we feel that he doesn’t keep the clear conditions, what is clear to all of us and doesn’t want to strengthen himself, doesn’t want to hold on to our principles, he tears the connection between us and we have no choice but only to remove him outside of our circle of the ten.

S. And is there such a matter that if there’s a person like that where you just put him in the ten but we let him do whatever he wants, I don’t know. For example if there is someone who doesn’t come a lot of times to the lesson, we nevertheless make room for him to stay with us once in a while, come, connect whenever he can. Is that right or..?

R. Those are special cases that we can keep a person even though he doesn’t fill all the conditions of a friend.

36. S. (01:18:52) This feeling that he has, that the Creator can help him makes in a person a Kli to receive the help from the Creator since the deficiency is called a Kli to receive the filling. Upon this feeling that the Creator can help a person, does he need to work on this or how do we come to that feeling?

R. Whenever a person needs to work on it, he has to discover in him a deficiency for it, for the help of the Creator.

S. A deficiency yes but a feeling that he can’t help and only the Creator can help?

R. That’s connected together.

37. S. (01:19:58) How do we know that we’ve entered the Sabbath and what do we feel when we enter the Sabbath?

R. That’s still far from us. I’m sorry to say that it’s still far away from us. When we correct all the vessels usually then we can reach a state called Shabbat.

38. S. (01:20:49) A day that is all Shabbat, is that when all the created beings are towards the Creator?

R. Yes.

S. What is my covenant here?

R. You connect with everyone and you want to discover between everyone that state called Shabbat.

39. S. (01:21:27) You talked a lot about the need. My question is what do you advise to a friend that is in a very long period of time in the state of ‘anything but leave?’

R. That he keeps going, keep going, continue first of all and to incorporate in the group and help everybody.

40. S. (01:22:05) Why does the Creator give a person a state in which he has no deficiency?

R. The Creator gives a person a state that he has no deficiency in order for a person to ask. A person can ask that he wants to come closer to the Creator so it’s clear that he needs a deficiency for it.

41. S. (01:23:04) In the entire article he describes in a very sensitive way this discussion about above reason. We need to rise above reason to be a man; he was talking about the evil inclination etcetera. We expand on the importance of faith about reason in our advancement, after all there’s no other way. The way to the Creator is only in faith above reason so how can we understand the importance of this?

R. We have to find articles where he explains it and there are many of them. From there you’ll understand better.

42. S. (01:23:59) Do we understand correctly that all the covenants were given to us so that we will want to serve the Creator, it will be easier for us – the covenant of the eyes, the covenant of the tongue?

R. Well, about it being easy to keep them I don’t know what to say but we need to try that they will all be revealed and we’ll know them in practice.

43. S. (01:24:45) When is it permitted to stop the effort of keeping the covenant?

R. Never.

S. But sometimes a person does what he can and adds even more and even more and in the end there’s no strength anymore.

R. I don’t know what you’re talking about, I was answering your first question. You can never stop the covenant. You sign the covenant, it’s forever.

44. S. (01:25:32) How does a person accustom himself not to believe the parts in his desire and the picture of his reality?

R. He gets used to it in the group, learns from the books and implements it in the connection.

45. S. (01:26:01) What’s the meaning of what the article talks about, the will to receive not making an agreement but rather it’s a desire to bestow that defines it?

R. Yes.

S. What is its meaning?

R. The meaning is that we have to try and give pleasure through our will to bestow.

46. S. (01:26:48) In the article it’s written about Shabbat: ‘all the judgments are impregnated by her and none other govern all the worlds but her.’ What does this mean?

R. Again.

S. There’s a quote here: ‘the light in it reforms as it’s written in the Sabbath and all the judgments they are…’ The friend is asking what’s the meaning here of what is written?

R. That in a state that a person is in called Sabbath he feels that there’s no judgment there, that’s it. When we will get to it we’ll get into that state and we’ll see that it’s like that.

47. S. (01:27:56) Is the level of patience to the evil inclination identical for everyone?

R. There’s not something that is equal for everybody because each one is within his own nature, each one with their own nature.