If I Am Not For Myself, Then No One Will Help Me

We need to use the phrase, “There is none else besides Him,” very carefully and not defer to it in all circumstances, justifying ourselves.

Did you attain the One of whom you say, “There is none else besides Him?” No. Yet, you use this expression whenever it is convenient for you. You have no right to use as a maxim what the Kabbalists derived from their Kelim(vessels) of attainment. You do not have them! Yet, you take this concept as a ready-made formula and begin to use it. This is incorrect; you cannot do that!

Everything I say stems from the Kelim I currently exist in. If I have these feelings and attainments inside me, then I proceed from this formula because I am able to operate it, and, if not, then what is the use of my words?

If I am not at this level, then why should I be thinking about it and imagining something? If I am simply studying theoretically, then this is a different matter. However, in practice, working in the group, if I always am going to be saying  “There is none else besides Him,” then I will not grow and will remain a small animal. All religious believers say that.

Question: How does the concept of “There is none else besides Him” link up with the fact that we must put forth our own efforts?

Answer: Prior to starting the work, one does not accept the principle of “There is none else besides Him” and does everything through his own effort.

In Letter #16, Baal HaSulam writes that each day before a person begins work, he needs to say, “If I am not for me, who is for me” and do whatever is necessary to earn his daily bread.

However, in the evening, having finished his work, he says, “There is none else besides Him” because the Creator thought about him in advance, and he earned everything not due to his own efforts, but because this was bound to occur.
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From the Convention In St. Petersburg “Day Three” 9/21/14, Lesson 6