Jerusalem: Not Stones But The Spirit

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is “Jerusalem” in the spiritual sense?

Answer: “Jerusalem” (Yerushalayim) in the spiritual sense is a “perfect awe” (Yira Shlema).

As The Book of Zohar explains, we have a commandment of fear and a commandment of love. The first commandment is fear, which can be of different kinds: from this world, from the future world, for oneself, for the community, for the Creator, and so forth. So, “Jerusalem” is the perfect fear, the level of Bina, which then develops itself in order to become the basis for receiving the Light of Hochma for the sake of bestowal. That is why this level is called perfect, on it, the Light of Hassadim and the Light of Hochma are together in one vessel. This way, the fear, meaning, Hassadim, holds the Light of Hochma, and this perfect state is called Jerusalem.

Besides that, as we know, each of the four levels of the still, vegetative, animate, and human natures contains in itself all of the others. Accordingly, on the human level there are also the previous levels, the still, vegetative, and animate. Finally, the ascent along them reaches an interaction (Zivug) of a maximum depth, that “place” where all of the creatures, connected by a common net, come to an integral state and come to the merging, to the drop of unity with the Creator.

That is what Jerusalem is. This is how we will see it, as the point of the highest spiritual quality, as the drop of unity. The Temple will be there, the high priest will be there, we will bring everything into this point.

But, perhaps, you suppose that Jerusalem is a city on a map? No, we are not talking about that. The material world will disappear, will rise in our perception to a spiritual level. The picture, which we see today is distorted by the forces of filth. This is a dream of those who are in materiality. But we want to awaken from the dream, then the shroud in the form of this world will disappear and we will see the true reality in which everything is united.

So the point is not in the buildings located on the Temple Mount; the work we need to do is internal. Throughout all of the years that I spent with Rabash, just once we visited Jerusalem. In his time, Baal HaSulam left Jerusalem for Jaffa. Therefore, clarify your expectations regarding the ancient stone slabs. In the branches, they symbolize what is inherent in the root, and we need them in order to get to the root from the branch. However, if we cling to the branches, then we will never arrive at the necessity for correction.

Today, the material still dominates in us. Some believe that if the stone blocks were to be arranged according to the drawings, which seem correct to us, then we will suddenly breathe the spirit of life into them, that we will endow them with holiness and spiritual force. In the same way a child makes an airplane from the materials he has at hand in the hope that it will fly.

Who really knows how to create spiritually today? It is good people are waking up, thinking about it; however, we understand that in this approach there in no spirit of life, no understanding of what really needs to be done.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/29/12, Writings of Rabash

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“Everyone Who Mourns For Jerusalem Is Rewarded With Seeing Its Joy”
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The Tabernacle Is The Place Of Our Spiritual Life

2 Comments

  1. Thank you for this article, what it clarifies is important.

  2. Following this line of thinking; it would seem there is no importance to the corporeal Land of Israel.

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