66-The Matter of Partnership

The Matter of Partnership 
Rabash

In the body there are arms and legs,

And each one has an important role,

But still it does what the head thinks.

If the head has good calculations

Then all the organs are happy.

And if the head has concerns

This mood is present in all the organs.

And like in partnership

If everyone fulfills its task

Then all are happy and joyful.

But without effort there is nothing.

Therefore the husband goes to work

And brings money,

And his wife takes the money

and exerts by going to buy food

And cook and makes sure

That the food is tasty.

And then both are happy and rejoice,

Because if the wife cooks tasty food

Her husband eats with good appetite

And then he has energy to go to work

And bring money.

And likewise, if the legs

Walk in the street

And the arms buy and prepare the food

for the brain

Then the mind has strength to think.

68-Mother’s Food

Mother’s Food
Rabash

A mother who feeds her children

Even though she has to buy the food and prepare it,

To have it ready to eat,

This involves work

Nevertheless she feeds them.

But one should discern between the two actions: 1. Actions that she has to give up 2. Actions that will not consider giving up Meaning to buy the food and prepare it, To be ready for eating.

These are the actions she would give up.
As we see with rich people,
Who have someone who buys the food
And there is a cook.

This indicates that these are actions
She can give up.
But to watch the children eat,
This she cannot give up.

And even though when the mother looks at them
she does not eat,

In this case she gives up for herself

And only enjoys from watching

How her children eat.

And it will never occur to the mother to think:

What will I get from watching

my little children are eat.
And she does not expect anything

in this world and in the next world.

And the reason is

Because she receives pleasure

from this action

Therefore she has no need for reward.

70-Mrs. Still And Mrs. Vegetative

Mrs. Still And Mrs. Vegetative

Rabash

Two neighbors live next to each other

Sometimes Mrs. Vegetative,

whose husband belongs to the state of vegetative

Which is the aspect of honor and control,
goes to Mrs. Still’s home

Who does not understand anything

except in the aspect of pride

And she sees how her neighbor

sits at the table with his family

And tells his family

How his workday went,

And how now he is resting

And enjoying his meal

Together with his family.

And when Mrs. Vegetative returns home

She waits for her husband to come home

From the store,

And eat his meal with his family.

But when her husband comes, he says:
“I don’t have time now to eat with you

Because I was invited to a charity meeting

to benefit the public.”

And his wife asks:

Why does your neighbor
comes back from the store

And sits down to eat
with his family,

And does not run anywhere

But relaxes happily with the family.

And you, you do not have any respect

for your family
And all you think about
is other people.

I don’t even think that you know them

And you give them all the time

that belongs to us, to our family

And you care more about others

Than about us.

Then he answers her:

The neighbor has no feeling for others,

And just like a chicken
taking a walk with her chicks

Who only cares for her her children,

so is our neighbor,

And you want me to be like him?

And this lady returns to her neighbor

And asks him:

Why after work,
do you eat with your family,

And behave like a chicken,

And you do not act like my husband?

And he tells her:
“I am not crazy like your husband

To give my precious time

That I have to rest and enjoy

With my family

For the benefit of others.”

And certainly they are both right

And no one understands the other.

73-Mr. Vegetative’s Mother and Mr. Still’s Mother

Mr. Vegetative’s Mother and Mr. Still’s Mother

Rabash

A woman goes to visit her neighbor,

And she sees that her neighbor’s son

gets up at 8 in the morning
and goes to work,

And in the evening,
when he comes back,

he behaves normal,
like all the people.

And later he goes to meeting

To do something for the benefit of the collective,

And afterwards he comes home and goes to sleep

As usual, like other people.

And this lady,
when she returns home,

She asks her son:

Why do I see many times

When I get up in the morning

I see that the lights are still on,

And the meal I cooked for you

Is still in front of you untouched,

And you are still bent over the books

While the neighbor’s son

Behaves like normal people?”

Her son answered her:

“I love wisdom,

And I therefore understand

That it is worth giving up everything

To buy wisdom.

However the neighbor’s son,

Who has nothing to do with wisdom,

And only engages in matters
concerning the collective,

So that somehow others

will have contentment like himself.

But I understand that without wisdom

We are “all like the beasts”,

But the neighbor’s son

Does not understand that without wisdom

One remains like all the animals.”

And the woman goes to her neighbor

And tells her what her son said.

And the neighbor’s son tells his mother:

“ I am not crazy to immerse myself

entirely into the wisdoms,

for what will I get out of it?

No one will want to speak with me

And everyone will tell me

That I have no idea

In the matters of this world.”

However when I engage in public matters

And go to meetings,

Where intelligent people gather,

To do something for the benefit of the public

There will be many people that will show me respect

Because I don’t think of my own needs,

But only about the collective.

Not so the neighbor’s son,

he only cares for his own needs,

Therefore he buries himself in the books.”

It follows that every one says,

That his ways is right,

The path of truth,

And no one understand his friend.

It follows that

Those who are in the state of animate

And love to engage in wisdom,

They cannot understand

The state of the speaking,

Those who have reached attainment.

77-What Is Attainment

What Is Attainment

Michael Laitman

The last word,

The final reason,

The deepest.

The last degree

of reason

The highest or deepest.

78-Light Defined By The Vessel

Light Defined By The Vessel

Michael Laitman

There is no spirituality

If no one discovers it.

Everything spiritual exists

If someone reveals it,

If someone exists in it,

For instance, the Light.

How do we know that there is light?

If one places a barrier in front of it,

The light is blocked by something

And we see that there is light.

Why is there no light

Outside the earth,

Outside the atmosphere?

Because the light that exists there

Is not blocked by any barrier.

If it is blocked by something,

Then we see,

That here “there is light.”

79-Still, Vegetative, Animate, Speaking

Still, Vegetative, Animate, Speaking

Baal Hasulam

1.   The Discernment of Still

Still is something that does not have an authority of its own.

Rather, it is under the authority of its Landlord

and must satisfy every wish and desire of its Landlord.

Hence the creature cannot work for another,

but only for himself. 

2. The Discernment of Vegetative

Vegetative is that which already has its own authority to some extent. It can already do something that is contrary to the opinion of the Landlord. This means that it can already do things not for itself but to bestow. This is already the opposite of what exists in the will of the Landlord, which He had imprinted in him,
as we can see in corporeal flora, even though they are mobile and expand in width and length, still, all the plants have a single property.

In other words, there is not a single plant that can go against the method of all the plants. Rather, they must adhere to the rules of the flora and are incapable of doing anything against the mind of their contemporaries.

Thus, they have no life of their own, but are parts of the life of all flora. 

This means that all the plants have a single form of life for all the plants.
All the plants are like a single creature and the individual plants
are specific organs of that animal.

Similarly, in spirituality there are people who have already acquired
the force to overcome their will to receive to some degree,
but are confined to the environment.
They cannot do the opposite of the environment they live in,
yet they do the opposite of what their will to receive wants.

3. The Discernment of Animate

We see that each animal has its own characteristic; they are not confined to the environment but each of them has its own sensation and characteristic.
They can certainly operate against the will of the Landlord.

They are not confined to the environment. 

Rather, they have their own lives, and their vitality does not depend on their friends’ life. Yet, they cannot feel more than their own being.
In other words, they have no sensation of the other.
And naturally cannot care for the other.

4. The Discernment of Speaking
Speaking has virtues:
1 - It acts against the will of the Landlord.
2 - It is not confined to its contemporaries like the vegetative, meaning it is independent from society.
3 - It also feels the other, and hence can care for them and complement them,
by feeling and regretting with the public,
and being able to rejoice in the solace of the public,

And has the ability to receive from the past and from the future.
Animals, however, feel only the present
and only their own being.

84-A Day Old Calf

A Day Old Calf

Baal Hasulam

The beast, whose mind is little at its end,

is not so wanting while it grows.

Whereas man, whose mind is great at his end,

is very wanting while developing.

“A day-old calf is called an ox”;

that is, it has the strength

to stand on its own legs and walk,

and the intelligence to avoid hazards on its way.

But a day-old infant

lies seemingly senseless.

And should one who is not accustomed

to the conducts of this world

examine these two newborns,

he would certainly conclude that

the human infant will amount to nothing

and the calf will turn out to be a great hero,

if he were to judge

by the wisdom of the calf

compared to the senseless and mindless child.

86-Sweet Fruit

Sweet Fruit

Baal Hasulam

Go and ask a botanist

How many phases the fruit undergoes

From the time it becomes visible

Until it is completely ripe.

Not only do its preceding phases

Show no evidence of its sweet and fine-looking end,

But as if to vex,

They show the opposite of the final outcome.

The sweeter the fruit is at its end,

The more bitter and unsightly it is

In the earlier phases

of its development.

87-The Neighbor’s Children

The Neighbor’s Children

Rabash

A person may see faults in his neighbor’s children,

but not in his own.

And when someone mentions some faults

in his children,

he immediately resists his friend

and begins to declare his children’s merits.

And the question is, which is the truth?

After all, there are merits to his children,

and hence he is upset

when others speak of his children.

The thing is this,

as I had heard it from my father:

Indeed, each person has advantages

and disadvantages.

And both the neighbor and the father

are saying the truth.

But the neighbor does not treat the other’s children

like a father to his children,

since he does not have the same love

for the children as the father does.

Hence, when he considers

the other’s children,

he sees only the children’s faults,

since this gives him more pleasure.

This is because he can show

that he is more virtuous

than the other

because his own children are better.

For this reason,

he sees only the other’s faults.

What he is seeing is true,

but he sees only things he enjoys.

But the father, too,

sees only the truth,

except that he regards

only the good things that his children have.

He does not see his children’s faults,

since it gives him no pleasure.

Hence, he is saying the truth

about what he sees in his children.

And because he regards

only the things that can please him,

he sees only the virtues.