Audio Version Of The Blog – 08.16.15

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The Role Of The Mind Along The Spiritual Path

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Torah, “Numbers” 13:17 – 13:18: Moses sent them to scout the land of Canaan, and he said to them, “Go up this way in the south and climb up the mountain. You shall see what [kind of] land it is, and the people who inhabit it; are they strong or weak? Are there few or many?”

Climbing the mountain and looking at the land from above means to summon the Upper Light, which temporarily raises you just because you ask for it. This however, doesn’t happen in practice, you only see it, because you cannot do anything but see.

Seeing can both raise or lower you, but it is essential in order to understand with what you have to work, which means to work in faith above reason. In order to do so, you need to have great knowledge because  you shouldn’t just follow blindly but should clearly understand all the instructions, guidelines, the whole system, and how to work with the Upper Light. This is the reason that the upper mind is activated before every level.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 3/30/15

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The World Is Waiting For Happiness

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What makes the Jewish people the chosen people according to the wisdom of Kabbalah?

Answer: The Jewish people are considered the chosen people because they are the first who have to learn and adopt the Kabbalistic method and bring it to all of humanity.

But in the meantime, the fact that we are the chosen people is negatively reflected on us because we don’t fulfill our role. This is the reason that we feel the negative attitude of the world towards us. We need to understand why we are excommunicated, why we have suffered throughout history, and why everyone hates us, including countries we have never had any contact with, and why this hatred emerges over and over again. We have to pay close attention to this since this attitude towards us stems from the general law of nature.

If we examine it as a natural process and begin to study and explore it, the wisdom of Kabbalah explains everything very simply: we have to bring the method of unity to the world, especially at this time when humanity is so divided. The world is in crisis: families are breaking up, countries are destroyed, everything is disintegrating, and man is internally shattered. It is actually in these times, according to all the sources, that the Kabbalistic method is most vital and required.

But because we don’t bring it to the world, humanity will increase its claims that we are the reason for all the afflictions because we don’t bring the world happiness, and this is because we are the only ones who can do it.
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From an interview on RTN, New York, 21/7/15

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The Cause Of Anti-Semitism

Dr. Michael Laitman

Question: The Jewish people do a lot of good things and good deeds. But I see that non-Jews view it negatively, and instead of seeing us as good, they see us as bad. Why?

Answer: What good did we, the smartest and most educated people, do for the world? Did we perform our mission to be the light for the nations? Why should they love us?

Humanity feels intuitively that we bring harm and hatred into the world. We cannot imagine how this could be possible, so ask, “What are we doing wrong? We do not wish anyone any harm! Why does everyone hate us and not the people who seek to destroy others? For what?” Start to investigate this and try to find the true cause of this phenomenon.

Why does North Korea, with whom we have never had any relationship, hold first place in the world for anti-Semitism? Why such hatred?

Because anti-Semitism exists inside nature, is its law, and there is nothing we can do about it. No amount of logic will help us. If this phenomenon has been observed for thousands of years, then we should take it seriously, and not on the level of feelings. We must get to the bottom of why we occupy one place in nature and the rest of the world another.

I have been studying laws of nature for the past 40 years. Prior to that, my specialty was bio-cybernetics. But over these 40 years I have come to realize that unity is the cardinal foundation that exists in all of nature, and there is nothing one can do about it because we cannot go against a law of nature.

Abraham was not a Jew, but an ancient Babylonian who worshiped idols. But yearning to understand why there was such disconnection in his society, he revealed that in nature, there is a law of unity and that humanity needs to come to unification. All of nature strives for oneness within itself from the time of the Big Bang until final correction, and having revealed this law, Abraham began to teach it to anyone who wanted to learn.

The most sensitive, developed, and responsive people joined him. With them he went out of Babylon. They started calling themselves Yehudim, from the word “Yichud” (unity) or Ivrim from the word “Laavor” (to cross over).

Prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, this group fulfilled its mission. But since the time when the last exile emerged, they have not. And until we come together and understand our mission, until we grasp it and announce it to the whole world, we can not expect anything good.

Because ultimately, all the Babylonians, i.e., all humanity, must arrive at unification. And it is we who have to bring this unity to the world.
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From a public lecture in New York, 7/20/15

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Sodom, Egypt, And The Land Of Canaan

laitman_749_03Midrash Raba, “BeShalach”: The children of Israel now camped in Kadesh, north east of the land of Israel. They knew that they would climb the mountain on the border of the land of Israel. Excited, pushing one another they ran to Moses with their request: let’s send the spies ahead, so that they will explore and check the land; they will advise us which way we should go and will tell us which cities would easily be conquered; so that we should know who to attack first. But of course, they had no need for spies, because the pillar of cloud moved before them. This is the reason that they had to think of different excuses in order to convince Moses to send the spies.

The children of Israel demanded that Moses send the spies to the land of Israel, which means that they didn’t have faith in the pillar of cloud, the cloud of glory, that guided them in the desert. But now the time had come to fight against the strong egoistic desires in the land of Israel, and only if the people overcome them will they acquire the spiritual level, which is the land of Israel.

The point is that the desert is a state in which we accept the good, equal, calm attitude toward everyone, passive bestowal. It isn’t the active work with the ego yet, since we don’t invoke it inside us and don’t bring it out. The land (“Eretz”) of Israel comes from the Hebrew word “desire” – “Ratzon,” on the other hand, is a desire that is aimed at the Creator.

This land is called Canaan now and at the moment it is aimed at a totally different direction. Seven nations (according to the number of the Sefirot) live in it; seven forces that pull everyone who has these desires in the opposite direction. This means that it is the same Egypt but in a more serious form. This is the reason that it is possible to cross the Red Sea, to undergo the experience of Mount Sinai and the desert, and at the same time to enter the state of the land of Canaan before it is conquered by the nation of Israel, that is, the very strong egoistic desires that are on guard, protecting themselves.

According to the egoistic state, the land of Israel is much higher than Egypt. For Pharaoh the nation of Israel is the intention to work in order to bestow upon themselves by receiving on purpose: I give to you, but eventually I receive from you, like a good owner of some factory who cares about his employees because he profits from them and it is much more worthwhile for him. This means that Pharaoh is a normal capitalist with a healthy approach. He says: “Go out and work and you will receive everything: meat, fish, and vegetables. You can live wherever you want and you can observe your religion. I don’t prohibit anything, just work! Do you wish to organize differently? Go ahead! But under my supervision!”

On the whole, he is a good and caring employer, who doesn’t suppress his subjects as long as they don’t rise against him and refuse to accept him as their employer anymore. This is the reason that he is ready to give them the best conditions: Do you want a pension fund? Here you are! A vacation? Here you are. Do you want it twice a year? That’s fine! Do you want extra pay? Okay! The best conditions for your kids: kindergartens and schools? I will do everything! It will be heaven! You don’t need to think about anything but simply do what you are told and that’s all! The only condition he has is that: “You should be loyal to me and then you will be well off.” This is called to bestow in order to receive. If you don’t accept this, you have a problem with Pharaoh and should therefore gather all the forces in order to overcome him and to move forward. This is what happened in Egypt.

But now we reach the next level called the land of Canaan, the future land of Israel. The land of Canaan is much higher than Egypt. When the nation of Israel enters it this level becomes increasingly more egoistic. They have seven sub levels called seven nations, seven egoistic desires. They are so big that they oppose the attribute of bestowal, of getting closer, of mutual support and mutual guarantee, that they are ready to tear to pieces anyone who begins to think about love and bestowal.

Therefore, when we approach the state called the land of Canaan, which means its borders, we begin to feel the deadly cold coming from there. If you want to unite, to love others, and to establish good relations with others, to bestow unto each other, you feel that everyone hates and rejects you. It is much worse than what Abraham experienced when he saved Lot from Sodom because everyone lived for himself there. This is how we want to live today. Everyone has everything of his own: “I have my own house and my car; I am alone in my home and I am alone in my car. I don’t need anyone. If I need someone I can invite him for an hour or two and that’s enough.”

This is Sodom, where everyone lives by himself. According to the laws of Sodom if you let someone spend the night at your home, then you are an enemy. You are breaking the social laws that are based on the fact that no one has any relations with anyone else; no one helps others, and there is no mutuality anywhere. If someone is starving, for example, it means that he deserves it and no one should help him. The Creator will help him, don’t interfere. You have no right to. Everyone is managed by the upper force. This is a very deep internal ancient philosophy that has a very serious basis.

But the land of Canaan is much worse. When the children of Israel begin to feel the cold that is beyond the border called the land of Canaan, which they have to overcome in order to conquer this land and to turn it into the land of Israel, they discover obstacles on a level to which they cannot ascend. It is many times bigger than the Wall of China. This means that you have to change the small ego that is left, which suddenly grows sky high, and then the next level you should reach is revealed and you feel like a dwarf compared to it. What is more, this obstacle is ideological and clever.

It pressures, convinces, and proves to you that you are doing something that is totally wrong, aiming against the Creator! Who sent you to do that? Did He send you? How can that be? After all it is all in contrast to Him! Even the message “send,” which means “send the spied there,” is against His condition to advance in faith above reason, and to advance in bestowal disregarding everything. So can you send someone?

It turns out that it is impossible to overcome the level itself by our own mind and feelings. That’s the way it always is in the spiritual work. You face a state that you cannot grasp in your mind and which you cannot justify.

Comment: A person constantly follows the pillar of cloud, which means that he advances by faith above reason, and then he suddenly stops and sends spies…

Answer: The people are ready to follow blindfolded, like blind puppies. But in order to ascend to the next level, they have to use their mind, since you can follow in faith above reason in the attribute of bestowal when you raise the mind to an upper level. This is the reason that you are allowed to use your mind, your understanding, your recognition, and your feelings, and now you have to advance above it. This is what the sin and the fall of the people is about: On the one hand, they raised themselves to the level of the new healthy mind, but on the other hand, they couldn’t rise above it. This means that the mind is activated before every spiritual level and it is only afterward that we can advance in faith above reason, since what else is there to ascend above if not above our mind?

Comment: If we compare Sodom, Egypt, and the land of Canaan, Abraham enters Sodom in order to protect the righteous; people go down to Egypt because of famine, but when they come to the land of Canaan they follow the pillar of cloud and are managed by Moses, which means by the point in the heart.

Answer: People enter Egypt because of famine because this is where they receive additional egoistic desires that they later have to ascend above. This ascent isn’t fulfilled by conquering Egypt but when they escape from it. In order to ascend above it, they need the Torah, the right spiritual method. It is only in the land of Canaan that they begin to ascend above Egypt, when they summon great egoistic desires that were increased during their wandering in the desert. This is actually what is revealed before them now.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 3/30/15

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For The Fairy Tale To Come True…

laitman_944Question: You use such beautiful high words like “unity” and “love of others,” but they are so far from our lives that they seem like a fairy tale. How can it become a reality?

Answer: Suppose the Knesset, the government, or the president issue a compulsory education law called “a united nation is a duty” instead of just using nice words. They would not be able to enforce it properly, of course, without the help of Kabbalists, and we would be happy to cooperate and bring it to the people so that they would accept it.

Then courses will be opened everywhere, on the radio, TV, the media, kindergartens, schools, etc. It is only a question of making a decision, but an ultimate decision that nothing is more important for the nation of Israel than being the nation of Israel, which means becoming a united nation. We have no future here unless we unite.
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From the Israeli Radio Program 103FM, 8/2/15

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The Diagnosis Of Bialik

One of the leading Russian news sites in Israel, Zahav.ru, published this article by my student.

the-diagnosis-of-bialik

“The Diagnosis of Bialik”

“Scholarly Jews who were present in the early days of the state of Israel shaped the goal which identified the main problem it faces. Nevertheless, this didn’t prevent us from continuing to postpone the solution for a later time.

“Tel Aviv, Balfour Street, the year 1934. The last speech of Chaim Nachman Bialik. Soon he will travel to Vienna for an operation and return from there in a coffin. What did he talk about? About the division and the hatred that is destroying us from within: ‘How did we greet our brothers fleeing from war? We raised the price of housing and took their last pennies from them…the glitter of the Satanic gold blinded our eyes. We boasted the shine of the devilish gold blinds our eyes. We took pride in our initiative and prosperity, but in fact this was an empty speculative commotion.’

“What concerned Bialik was not the external threats, not problems with the authorities, but the root of all the troubles of the people—losing themselves in the twisting road of history. For hundreds of years they tried ‘to be like everyone else,’ conforming to the external standards. And even on their own land they continued in the same direction of assimilation—not physically, but ideologically and according to values.

“To this very day we have insisted upon imitating the ‘enlightened’ part of humanity, and are convinced that this is the only right way. But is it not here that our essential error lies because of which we haven’t attained true peace, not with our neighbors and not with ourselves?

“The conclusion of Bialik is prophetic and relevant for our times: ‘The main symptom of the disease is a terrible lack of internal unity, factional conflict and unfounded hatred that is tearing us apart.’

“Since the time that we fought for our independence, for our right to live in this land, we have not stopped quarreling between us and we even murder each other on the basis of factional disputes, as in the case of the ‘Altalena.’ We don’t miss an opportunity to warm our hands on the troubles of our brothers. Imagine the development of events in the case of a great new immigration, say from the Ukraine or from France and Belgium. I’m sure you’ve said this before—raise the price of housing!

“So what has changed? Nothing. It makes no difference that now laws are accepted in the Knesset of Israel and not by the Mandate government—we still remain in spiritual exile, on the outskirts of the land to which we should have returned differently, not just physically.

“It wasn’t only Bialik who indicated that separation is the main problem of the Jewish people and unity is the key to prosperity. Bialik, the famous poet, often visited a modest house in the old neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Neve Tzedek, at 21 Brotherhood Street, where Abraham Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, lived. In the 60 years since the nation of Israel was born, specifically he has been recognized by the entire nation as the person who has had the greatest influence on Judaism. One line below his would be—the name David Ben-Gurion. Nevertheless this recognition has remained as merely a formality, as a memorial to Rav Kook. After all, we haven’t listened to his message from the last century.

“And Abraham Kook spoke and shouted that we lacked cohesion and an understanding of our role in history. He saw the immigration to Israel as a basis for the revival of the nation and unity as a unifying platform for self-realization. Nevertheless, many in the religious sector hated Rav Kook because of his commitment to Zionism, and the secular, on the contrary, hated him because of his faith. In the Autumn of 1913, together with a group of Zionist Rabbis, Rav Kook entered the dining hall of Kibbutz Merhaviah, and immediately silence pervaded the room.

“Many suspicious glances stared at the strange guests, and one of the settlers shouted: ‘Don’t waste your words and energy, you will not find even one here who will join you!’ Rav Kook approached him and said: ‘We have come not to be joined but to join.’

“Over the course of hundreds of years we have lost the ability to appreciate our sages. Maybe Kook, like Bialik, appeared before his time, and remains as a believer in a utopia that is not understood, though in fact he didn’t talk about anything utopian. Today, when before our eyes we differentiate between people from different nations, cultivating enmity and hatred between them and do this with understanding, unity seems like a very logical solution and even a necessity.

“But the word ‘logic’ is not written on our flag. The Gallup center recently arranged a global survey about problems that concern people. 70 thousand people from 65 nations indicated their problems —’crying’ about corruption (21% in contrast to 15% in the previous year), economic difficulties (14%) poverty and inequality (12%). In brief these are problems that are recognized and understood in Israel. But these are the results. And there is one cause—isolation, apathy, mutual distance in heart and mind.

“Why doesn’t anyone complain about this? Maybe people are simply confused by the media? But we already know the answer that was heard not long ago and hasn’t lost its relevance.

“How is it possible to reach us? Even the Holocaust didn’t cause the people to think again about their fate.

“’I already let my essential considerations be heard in the year 1933. In addition to this, I spoke with the leaders of the generation, and my words weren’t accepted then, even though I shouted loudly and warned about the collapse of the world, but this didn’t make an impression….’ —that is what a close friend of Abraham Kook wrote, the Kabbalist Yehudah Ashlag. He shouted not only here, but in Poland too, from which he tried to bring out 300 families before the Second World War. Everything was ready, and nobody interfered, except…the Jewish leadership that banished Ashlag and really drove him away to Palestine, making it impossible for him to realize his plan. Needless to say, both those leaders and the families that he enlisted perished in the Holocaust.

“Isn’t all of this enough for us to draw conclusions? For us it is not enough.

“’The son of Ashlag came to me,’ writes Ben-Gurion in his diary in the year 1958, ‘I told him about my meetings with his father, when I wanted to talk with him about Kabbalah and he wanted to talk with me about Socialism…,’ that’s all.

“Smart, knowledgeable, caring people unanimously indicated the essence of the problems, the systemic social defect that impeded the nation from the start, but their voice has been swallowed in the cacophony of mutual accusations and recriminations, in minute disputes with great implications. If even a person possessing stature like Ben-Gurion didn’t comprehend, didn’t absorb, the message that was so clear to the members of his generation, it is not surprising that we still suffer from the same malady.

“The diagnosis of Bialik is correct: in our land we are strangers to each other to a great degree. Israel is split, divided into sectors, and confused by a greedy gaze at a golden calf clothed in the honorable clothing of liberal values.

“Are we the only democracy in the Middle East? Yes. But democracy is sick, lacking warmth in the normal relationships between people. So has the time come to recover from the illness? ‘Our Tel Aviv is sick,’ said Bialik, ‘And I bless you and myself for us to merit to see signs of recovery after I return.’ Sometimes hope lives longer than the person himself and passes on to his descendants, so that they will realize it in spite of everything.”
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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 08.16.15

Lesson on the Topic: “European Convention,” Lesson #2

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Writings of Rabash “Rungs of the Ladder,” “What Is the Foundation on Which Kedusha (Holiness) Is Built”

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The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, Chapter “Divinity,” “His Will Is Always to Malchut

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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 6, Part 16, Item 84

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