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Refuge

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: The Holocaust, which befell the Jewish nation, was the most tragic event in all of our history. But when we see how anti-Semitism is gaining momentum all over the world, it seems that instead of becoming a thing of the past, the Holocaust is possible even today. Can the Holocaust happen again?

Answer: The point of the process that is happening to us is for us to repent our egoistic nature and demand to replace it, to replace hatred with brotherly love. And in order to reach that kind of realization, we need to learn about the entire program of creation.

The science of Kabbalah explains that all of creation is one closed, analog system, all of whose parts are interconnected on all levels into one sphere. Thus, every element affects all other elements and they all harmoniously take part in the system, except for man.

Imagine a sphere that contains still nature, plants, and animals that all exist in total symbiosis with each other. Even though we see how one of them eats another, it’s only because man, the most developed creature, is evil and egoistic by nature.

Egoism separates us and forces us to profit at others’ expense, to compete and wage war. Each person feels better if he manages to get ahead of others, instead of letting them get ahead of him.

Human nature is opposite to the perfect, global, integral nature, which is a round, closed system. But eventually, humanity has to reach equivalence with nature and attain a wonderful, perfect state where all the nations of the world are united.

There is one special nation called the nation of Israel, which has the method to attain unity. This nation lived in such unity for 1,600 years, from the time of Ancient Babylon on.

After coming out of Ancient Babylon, the Jewish nation went through the land of Canaan, Egypt, and the Sinai desert, and then reached the land of Israel, where it lived until the destruction of the Temple and its expulsion into the last exile. For about 1,500 years, this nation lived by the principle of love for the neighbor as for yourself.

The Jewish nation lived in the attainment of the general nature of unity, and by virtue of that it attained the laws of the general nature, it attained the “Creator,” or perfection, mutual love and bestowal.

After that we fell from the height of love into hatred and thus became equal to all the nations of the world, among which we live to this day. But about a hundred years ago, the Jewish nation got an opportunity to return to the land of Israel in order to create the state of Israel here again.

The state of Israel needs to be created according to our program, the laws by which we used to live, meaning the laws of unity of the nation and state. Without such unity, which suits the Jewish nation, that is, love for the neighbor as for yourself, we cannot become a nation. That is why we are still called a gathering of exiles.

Only by realizing the method of unity that we were given will we build the nation of Israel. Otherwise we cannot be considered a nation. It looks like we live together, in one country, but in reality, each person is by himself. That’s how we live today. Many people would even like to leave, and they would happily leave the country if they had the chance to live well abroad.

There is no spirit of one nation here, living in one country, on its land. It is more like a refuge where we have gathered because we had no other choice. However, while in previous generations, immediately after the Holocaust, when the Jews escaped here from other countries, Israel did resemble a refuge, today it is no longer one because today every person has the chance to travel the world and live wherever he wants to. You can meet Israelis in any part of the world. That is, we are once again dispersing all over the world, as if the threat has passed and we can come out of the refuge.

But according to the program of creation, we have to become one nation, and it’s not in order for us to live well, but to show the right example to everyone else. This is the meaning of becoming “a Light onto the nations of the world.”

We will have to realize that unity whether we want to or not. Therefore, we will experience all sorts of problems inside the nation of Israel, along with horrible hatred and anti-Semitism from outside, from other nations, until all of this obligates us to unite. But we can become aware of the need to unite on our own and begin working on it according to the method of Kabbalah, which explains how to love your neighbor as yourself. Then we won’t need to be nudged toward that by internal strife or external hatred.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 04/12/2015

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The Idleness Of The European Parliament

Dr, Michael LaitmanI read in the article “Russian Germany,” that in 2015, only a few dozen laws were dealt with in the European parliament, which is made up of 751 representatives.

Maintaining this creative legislative army costs the taxpayer 1.7 billion Euros every year. According to this year’s prospects, the representatives will readily accept this decrease in their activities and will go on about their own business without any sense of there being a problem.

My Comment: I believe that this is how the composition (of the EU ) is gradually making itself obsolete and irrelevant. However, this may be quite beneficial, since many people have learned from this project, which was a failure from the start. The only reason for its failure was that it was not based on any form of integration but on simple, egoistic calculations. Because all of this is taking place in an era of true integration of nature any form of artificial integration is doomed to fall apart. On the whole, this project will eventually have  to be shut down completely.
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Kosher, Suitable To Serve The Creator

laitman_560“(Leviticus 1:2): “…from animals, from cattle or from the flock.” Blessed be the Omnipresent who told about Himself through the first Tzaddikim, Adam brought a bull on the altar, as it is said (Psalms 69:32): “And it will appeal to the Lord more than a young bull.” Noah kept what was written in the Torah, as it is said, (Genesis 8:20): “And Noah built an altar to the Lord.” Abraham kept the whole Torah, as it is said, (Genesis 26:5): “Because Abraham hearkened,” for he made a sacrifice and brought a ram, Isaac kept what was written in the Torah and flung himself down before his father like a lamb to the slaughter. Jacob kept what was written in the Torah, as it is said, (Genesis 35:4):”And they gave Jacob all the deities of the nations….” (VaYikra Rabbah 2:10)

Three types of animals symbolize the three lines in spiritual work. A person must sort out all of the desires within him and choose the ones that will help him reach the highest work. This is the line of Jacob, the “middle line” that includes within it both plus and minus.

Abraham is Hesed, Isaac is Gevura, and Jacob is Tifferet. For each one of them, there is a suitable Kosher animal, meaning suitable to serve in order to bestow to the Creator through society.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 11/13/13

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The Luck Of Cats

laitman_564Question: What are these 49 Gates of Tuma’a (Impurity) they passed through before the exodus from Egypt?

Answer: We try to get out from our ego toward love of others, and we are not ready. Again we try, and again, we don’t succeed. We try again and again, until, basically, we discover that all of us are in a situation in which we don’t want to leave Egypt. We have no possibility of doing this and no strength. We are not able to leave. It is a completely hopeless situation.

Our ego, as it is now, pulls us into all kinds of stupidity with which we try to fill our lives. So, in what way are our lives different from the life of a cat, besides the fact that the cat feels good about himself? Yesterday, the weather was clear. He laid down and warmed himself in the sun. There is something to eat, so the cat eats and sleeps, and nothing more concerns him.

A person needs to receive a thousand times more than a cat to feel satisfied. So, who is more joyful and happy, the person or the cat? As far as it seems, the cat is happier. He lies in the sun all the time, he knows that his owner always will feed him, and he is not concerned about anything for himself.

The cat looks contemptuously at how his owner runs around all the time. He runs to work, doing a thousand other things. He doesn’t understand why people make such  a hectic life for themselves. Why are they running around so much? Every day, they go around in the same circle: They put the children in kindergarten and they run to work, to the store, and home. They prepare food, eat, and go to sleep to start all over again. Is it worth it to go around like this all year, to break out once a year for a seven-day vacation?

And the cat lies around all day, licks himself, and it is good for him. So, which of us is more joyful and happy? Who is more complete? Certainly, it is the cat, whereas the person is a most miserable creature, as it is written about Ishmael, “…his hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand against him.” (Genesis 16:12).
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/8/15, Writings of Rabash

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Sale And Redemption

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Torah, “Leviticus” 25:47- 48: If a resident non Jew gains wealth with you, and your brother becomes destitute with him and is sold to a resident non Jew among you or to an idol of the family of a non Jew. After he is sold, he shall have redemption; one of his brothers shall redeem him.

A stranger is the external ego that in and of itself becomes a greater level in relation to the people of Israel (Galgalta ve Eynaim). This speaks about corrected states. So, if there is a stranger who settles with you and gets the upper hand, meaning that he becomes great and corrected, then your brother who is smaller than he in level, his sale to a stranger becomes his correction. You must sell him because entry under a higher level with a greater ego, called a stranger, is the correction.

However, after you have sold your brother to a stranger, you can redeem and buy him back, for he has already corrected himself by being sold, meaning he nullified himself to the stranger. When the redemption ransoms him, he returns to you together with that part of the stranger that he acquired at the time of the sale.

The only situation in which the sale is considered a sin is prostitution, meaning I am sold to another for the purpose of obtaining pleasure, not in order to adhere to him and do great work. So, from prostitution, we don’t take a tithe because the Partzuf itself is not sacred since it is not working with an intention to bestow. It has Aviut (thickness/coarseness), but there is no Masach (screen), the intention to bestow.

After he is sold, he shall have redemption; one of his brothers shall redeem him. Or his uncle or his cousin shall redeem him, or the closest [other] relative from his family shall redeem him; or, if he becomes able to afford it, he can be redeemed [on his own]. He shall calculate with his purchaser [the number of years] from the year of his being sold to him until the Jubilee year; then, the purchase price shall be [divided] by the number of years; as the days of a hired worker, he shall be with him. (Leviticus 25:48 – 25:50)

Redeeming the brother means paying with a Masach for a Masach, since someone who goes through correction is under the Masach of a greater Partzuf. He needs to wait (which means to pass through levels) until the year of the Jubilee (Bina) when everyone becomes free, and everything goes back to its true owner.

It is necessary to pay for that work that the master must carry out on the brother (on the uncorrected desire) until the Jubilee year (Bina), meaning that he does this work instead of the master, and then the brother can go free.

Suppose that I have 17 years until the Jubilee year (50 years). This means that I must pay for a Masach corresponding to these 17 years. I then take him from under the Masach of the master to my Masach. However, if I ransom him, meaning to free him, does he truly become free, since after all, my Masach has not been moved to anyone? The question can be asked, “What do we rely on to acquire a Masach here?”

This is the redemption, the ransom, that specifically happens in this order when, …one of his brothers shall redeem him. Or his uncle or his cousin shall redeem him, or the closest [other] relative from his family shall redeem him; or, if he becomes able to afford it, he can be redeemed [on his own]. This indicates that the correction has been done to the degree that the Masach has been reduced.

The ransom of captives, slaves, and various other people is a very great correction, a real act of charity and kindness. There is even a ransom of bodies that were murdered. This strengthens the spirit of the people, giving them faith that we will not leave anyone behind. This is just like when Moses upheld the condition of taking everyone out of Egypt without leaving even one under the Parsa (border). For, if we are one soul, then it is impossible to leave any fragment behind, because without it we never can attain the entire completion of correction.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 11/19/14

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Breaking Free Of The Domination Of The Ego

Dr. Michael laitmanThe Torah, “Leviticus” 25:44 – 25:46: Your male slave or female slave whom you may have from the nations that are around you, from them you may acquire a male slave or a female slave. And also from the children of the residents that live among you, from them you may acquire [slaves] and from their family that is with you whom they begot in your land, and they shall become your inheritance. You shall hold onto them as an inheritance for your children after you, as acquired property, and may thus have them serve you forever. But as for your brethren, the children of Israel, a man shall not work his brother with rigor.

The Torah tells us about different egoistic states that we undergo, one of which is enslavement to our ego.

We shouldn’t perceive what the Torah tells us as a story about the mutual relationships between people, since mutual relationships in this world are fulfilled automatically according to our natural attributes. The Torah tells us only about our internal states.

The Torah turns to us personally and refers to the states that we undergo, either as slaves to our desires or as people who are free of their desires and are the leaders, managers, and creators of our desires as a result of our development, i.e., to the extent that we can rise above our ego.

All of these are spiritual categories relative to the ego and there is nothing else but that.

Question: In that case, who is Moses?

Answer: Moses is the uppermost point of the desire that is born in the ego, breaks free and pulls people (the desires) who quickly can follow.

Moses doesn’t come out of the ego by himself. After spending 40 years with Jethro, he must go back to Egypt because his brothers are there. Even Pharaoh makes him an offer to leave Egypt with Aaron. Pharaoh doesn’t want Moses to take from him that part (Israel) that makes him rich, since he receives the Light through that part. This is the reason that he doesn’t want to let the people go. However, on the other hand, he allows Moses, the actual point of bestowal, to leave: “You don’t belong in Egypt anyway. You haven’t been here for 40 years, and now you suddenly show up.”

The slaves, Pharaoh, Moses, and Joseph are all desires that express a person’s attitude toward his ego, called Egypt, but the main one is Pharaoh.

When I take my people (my desires) out of the domination of the intention for myself and place them under the intention for the Creator, I exit the borders of Egypt, moving beyond the borders of the circle ruled by Pharaoh. It is the Creator who rules outside that circle.

This is the reason that I must take my desire out of that circle, since it can be either under the domination of Pharaoh or under the domination of the Creator. In order to do that, I must establish the conditions in Egypt that allow me to take this desire out so that it will agree to follow me.

I must weaken Pharaoh’s influence over my desires, which means to afflict them with ten plagues. I must place the desires (the people) in such darkness that they do not achieve any success nor a ray of Light in their lives. Only then can I collect them and free them from the domination of Pharaoh. This is called crossing the Red Sea, the borderline between egoism and altruism.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 11/12/14

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Freedom And Dependency

laitman_537The Torah, “Leviticus” 26:1 – 26:2: You shall not make idols for yourselves, nor shall you set up a statue or a monument for yourselves. And in your land you shall not place a pavement stone on which to prostrate yourselves, for I am the Lord, your God. You shall keep My Sabbaths and fear My Sanctuary. I am the Lord.

Not to prostrate yourselves means to try to be as independent as possible—free.

This is a paradox, but freedom and independence must be formatted under the slogan, “for I am the Lord, your God,” which implies absolute lack of freedom. It is in this absolute lack of freedom that I attain that I must be totally free, which means to ascend above myself and be united with the Creator.

It is actually in the unity with Him that I achieve complete independence. It is hard to perceive this paradox because of its duality, but it exists. Scientists who deal with quantum physics also are beginning to realize this duality. Although they don’t perceive it, theoretically they realize that it is so.

However, how can we integrate these two opposites? It is absolutely impossible. It is impossible in our one-dimensional perception. We cannot even imagine what it means to be free according to our unity with the force of the Creator. In order to do so, we need to have an internal system that combines the two opposites.

Question: This means that I must be free of all the idols and graven images that I follow.

Answer: The idols and the graven images are essential for my development. I must hold on to something, like a child who holds on to some toy, a pacifier, or a blanket, and cannot manage without it. I feel the world through them.

It is impossible to advance without idols and graven images since we develop to the extent that we ascend above them. Each time I change the different deities until I ascend above these states by becoming totally free of the idols and at the same time am totally dependent on the Creator.

This phenomenon is typical of our times when the idols and graven images gradually disappear and a person seems to find himself hanging in the air. We are beginning to cleanse ourselves of them, but, at the same time, they also are flourishing and spreading. We soon will see the growing attraction to religion and more wars that are supposedly desirable to God.

Humanity somehow needs to cut off this tight and complex connection and do something about the economy and politics and the harm they have caused the world.

However, they will solve nothing by this method. The only alternative for the sufferings is the proper education of people and bringing them to the recognition of what is going on in the world. There is nothing else but that, no other method of changing man or of putting pressure on us, on the part of nature or society. This critical point is getting closer.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 11/19/14

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 04.19.15

Writings of Baal HaSulam “Peace in the World” 

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Writings of Baal HaSulam “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar

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Topic of Lesson “Independence Day in Israel”

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