I Answer All Questions

I Answer Everyone's QuestionsA question I received: If the purpose of your blog is to disseminate Kabbalah to the outside, wouldn’t it be better to give preference to questions from people who have little familiarity with the subject, and set aside your students’ questions?

My Answer: I answer everyone’s questions. But what ends up happening is that the answers that get published are responses to my students, because the beginners’ questions always repeat themselves, and I don’t answer the same question twice. When a person enters this blog, if he is really interested in the topic of the blog, then he should study it and look through all 550 previous posts.

Do you have another suggestion for how I should react to the constantly recurring questions? Maybe we should collect them and publish them on a separate page together with the answers, and then redirect people to that page?

I warmly welcome all beginners! After all, this blog is educational. Please give me suggestions on how to improve it. I thank you in advance!

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The Third Temple and the Coming of the Messiah

The Third Temple and the Coming of the MessiahA question I received: The Second Jewish Temple was built under circumstances of violent opposition — both from the external foes of the God of Israel and also from within the Jewish community in Jerusalem. Does not the building of the Third Temple (as soon as possible) surely speed the coming of the Messiah – God’s man who alone can bring about peace?

My Answer: It will not accelerate anything, but will only bring more harm. It’s because the nation must first be corrected on the spiritual level, as this is the meaning of building the Temple (the common soul, in which the Creator is revealed). We have to build the Temple inside us by attaining brotherly love, and inside this love we will attain the Creator (the presence of the Shechina), as it is written, “Prepare a place (the common desire) for Me and I will dwell among you.”

Only then can we build a symbol of the Temple in stone. The Messiah is not a person, but the force that pulls the entire humanity out of egoism. Baal HaSulam writes in the article “Messiah’s Horn” that the way to reveal the Messiah in the world is by disseminating Kabbalah among all the nations. And this is what we are trying to do.

It’s possible that the Messiah – the force and method of the souls’ correction, will be represented by a person – a Teacher who will enlighten and lead by example.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Building the Third Temple
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The Olympic Games Should Be Played Like Giveaway Checkers

The Olympic Games Should Be Played Like Giveaway CheckersTwo questions I received on the Olympics:

Question: Do the Chinese participants of the Olympics have an advantage because millions of people are thinking about them and hoping that they will win?

My Answer: Yes. People’s thoughts influence each other because we are a single system of souls. We are only disconnected from each other in our imagination! Hence there is more than just psychological influence when you have millions of fans present as well as the feeling of being at home – in addition you are also influenced by any number of people who are merely thinking about you.

Question: How does the wisdom of Kabbalah relate to sports and body culture, with regard to how it’s expressed in the Olympics?

My Answer: Sports should exist for the sake of interaction between people, rather than competition between them. Since people do the latter, sports has become political, economical, and physically harmful. The intentions of the players should be similar to a game of “giveaway checkers” (where the objective is to give in) – every person should feel like he’s the host who welcomes the guests and wants to please them. One way to express this on the outside is through athletic games. Right now we find it difficult even to imagine such a scenario – a contest for the sake of bestowal, friendship, and union with the “opponent.”

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Eastern Teachings Have No Connection With Kabbalah

Eastern Teachings Have No Connection to KabbalahA question I received: How do Eastern teachings and religions reflect in Kabbalah, which also came from the east?

My Answer: Anything related to corporeality has no relation to Kabbalah. Here is a list of just some of the things that don’t pertain to Kabbalah in any way:

  • Places, including “holy” or special places that are said to have special qualities
  • Objects, including buildings, statues, images, objects of worship, and other objects which are said to have special powers
  • Time, including special dates and times, or anything that depends on time and celestial circumstances
  • The human body

None of these have any connection to Kabbalah, because Kabbalah is a science that speaks only about the Creator and His revelation in a person’s soul. It has no connection to the body, and this is why Eastern religions or teachings cannot be considered part of Kabbalah. Religious actions and attributes (including specific places or worship, rituals, special objects, and so on) completely contradict Kabbalah, because Kabbalah only engages in studying and delving deep into the human soul and man’s qualities and forces, as if our world and our bodies don’t exist at all.

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Correction Depends Only On Desire, Not Knowledge

Correction Depends Only On Desire, Not KnowledgeThree questions I received on dissemination:

Question: When will Baal HaSulam’s difficult language (such as the Talmud Eser Sefirot, Pticha, and the Commentary on The Book of Zohar) be brought down to the level of the modern day egoism and restated in a language that regular people can understand? Isn’t this the reason why we are running late with our correction?

My Answer: You should study all of these materials in our lesson archive. We always study the Talmud Eser Sefirot, and we are studying The Book of Zohar on this blog, with links to the full commentaries.

My entire mission is to bring Kabbalah closer to our generation and to all the people in the world. However, this is only for those who are seeking knowledge. In order to realize Kabbalah in practice, one does not need any knowledge of it (unlike the way one learns a science in our world).

It’s because one must first create an inner instrument of attainment, the Kli or soul, from “the point in the heart.” One’s correction does not depend on knowledge, but on the desire. One reveals the Upper World by making efforts to understand spirituality correctly, by revealing that it’s the property of love and bestowal to one’s neighbor, and by unifying these aspirations into one whole.

Question: How important is the form (or the quality) of the material that’s used in mass dissemination? What I mean is, how important is it to have a professional approach, a good use of language, and no foreign accent when explaining Kabbalah? I think that if a person has a point in the heart, then it won’t make any difference how the information is presented – he will be attracted to it regardless.

My Answer: The form or “wrapper” is important in the first encounter, but not later on. In fact, at later stages it works in the opposite way – the concealed is more attractive.

Question: How can I help disseminate Kabbalah in the city of Baku in Azerbaijan?

My Answer: Like in many other countries around the world: without mentioning Kabbalah or myself; by presenting it as a science that offers deep attainment of reality.

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Laitman.com Post: The Book of Zohar, Chapter “Rose,” Items 1-3
Laitman.com Post: The Book of Zohar. Chapter “Flower Buds” (Items 4-6)
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Laitman.com Post: The Book of Zohar. Chapter “Who Has Created These, of Eliyahu”
Laitman.com Post: The Book of Zohar. Chapter, “The Mother Lends Her Clothes To Her Daughter”
Laitman.com Post: The Book of Zohar. Chapter “The Letters by Rabbi Amnon Saba”
Laitman.com Post: The Book of Zohar. Chapter “Supernal Wisdom”
Laitman.com Post: The Book of Zohar. Chapter “The Lock and the Key”
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In All Life Situations, Your Behavior Should Be Determined Only by the Spiritual Goal

In all life situations, your behavior should be determined only by the spiritual goalQuestions I received on the loss of desire and other disturbances:

Question: I’ve been studying Kabbalah for over a year, and lately I’ve been faced with a problem. My desires for different pleasures of this world are gradually disappearing, and the only desires left are the minimal desires needed for bodily survival. Is this regression? Can I somehow develop desires for fulfillment? I feel like I am turning into an amoeba. Even though I don’t limit myself in any way, I don’t see any point in making “unnecessary movements.” Where did my egoism go? If it fell asleep, then how can I wake it back up?

My Answer: You’re discovering that it’s pointless to fulfill your egoism, and because you’ve made this revelation, you have lost the energy (Homer Delek) to aspire for material things. This happens to many people in our world, resulting in a feeling of emptiness and depression – the most widespread disease in the world. However, spirituality also disappears and ceases to attract you.

Both of these feelings are evoked in you by the Creator on purpose, in order to create a place for freedom of will, a place for you to make your own efforts above your nature. It’s because all the things that you can do on your own are actually done by the Creator. But if you reveal the emptiness of this world and become indifferent to this world, and in addition you also reveal a special emptiness of the spiritual world, and the spiritual world also ceases attracting you, then you should participate in the group and the study correctly, in order to evoke the importance of the spiritual goal – “the revelation of the Creator (love for your neighbor).”

This desire draws the Upper Light (Ohr Makif), which will bring you the perception of spirituality – the Creator, the quality of bestowal and love. So you should receive the importance of spirituality from your friends!

Question: Dear Rav, after my study visit to Bnei Baruch I really felt that my soul, for the first time, felt that it was at home. It was a power that was stronger than my body. It caused many conflicts when I tried to balance my time between the desire of my soul and doing my bodily things. Now that I am back I feel like I have no desire for anything. This happens to me after each congress and each time I have a very strong contact with Bnei Baruch. Why does this happen and how can I pass these states?

My Answer: This is natural, because we at Bnei Baruch have a very intense spiritual atmosphere, and you are being imbued by it. After returning home from your visit to us, you have to heighten your spiritual life so it will take place on the same level that you felt while being with us.

Question: I encountered many problems while doing dissemination actions. For example, I fell down, my eyes and teeth became infected, and so on. Public opinion says that the obstacles are telling me that I shouldn’t be doing this, that I have to change my outlook, and so on. But I believe differently – that I have to make efforts in order to reinforce my intention for reaching the goal. Please explain, how should I interpret the disturbances?

My Answer: If your body is physically and psychologically healthy, then you have to overcome the disturbances without paying attention to your body. However, if the disturbances need medical treatment, then you should immediately go to the doctor, while continuing your studies and dissemination.

Comment: In a previous blog post I wrote that Kabbalah is more important than family – that if a man’s wife is against Kabbalah and it’s impossible to compromise or persuade her, then it’s permissible to get a divorce for the sake of your soul. I received a few perplexed responses – “How can this be?” People don’t understand that life is meaningless if it’s not used to attain the goal that has been set before every person. The sky, the earth, and every one of us were created for attaining this goal, and not for creating a marriage on the animate level and becoming a slave of your partner’s egoism.

So the conclusion to be made from this is: In all life situations, your behavior should be determined only by the spiritual goal!

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