A question I received: I feel drawn to Kabbalah study. I feel great changes. I feel like I am hearing answers that speak to me for the first time in my life. I want to learn, grow and change.

I was unobservant for many years and then returned to observance, mostly to try and make my life make sense and because of guilt. My father is a Rabbi and is a wonderful, pious, accepting man. I thought that I was doing something for my father by returning, and this is how my actions were also perceived by my orthodox family.

I only found Kabbalah because I returned to observance and went into a Chabad house. From there my interests were peaked and I found you online.

I feel conflicted now when I learn from you about the difference between religion and Kabbalah. I understand what you are saying and want to continue to learn, but I feel like if I move toward you, I am being selfish and disloyal to my father. So to move toward Kabbalah might be a selfish act for me considering my circumstance. Is this just part of my work?

My Answer: The difference between religion and Kabbalah is man’s correction. The study of Kabbalah (when it’s done correctly and by the correct source texts) evokes the Upper Light, which corrects one’s egoism according to the rule, “I have created egoism and I have created the Torah for its correction, because the Light that’s in it returns one to the Source.”

We develop to the degree that the broken, egoistic desires are revealed us. When one’s desire for correction becomes revealed, one then begins to sense that our world and everything in it – even faith – are false and empty. However, people who don’t realize this yet are satisfied with faith – whether faith in themselves, the world, or God.

Only you can tell which desires are being revealed in you. At the end of our development all of us will feel the need to unite with the Creator. In our time, people’s desires for Him are beginning to surface. This is why Kabbalah – the method of revealing the Creator, is becoming more and more popular and necessary. Even religions are beginning to “dress” in it and to say that Kabbalah is part of them. This also benefits Kabbalah, because it will accelerate people’s realization that the Creator cannot be attained anywhere besides Kabbalah!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Light Will Dispel the Darkness
Laitman.com Post: Which Books Should One Read to Learn Kabbalah?
Article: “The Need for Learning Kabbalah”
Kabbalah Today Article: “Interview with Rav Michael Laitman, PhD”

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