Entries in the 'Torah' Category

The Miracle of Translating the Torah

963.1Question: In the Talmud, an ancient source of Jewish wisdom, it is written:

There was an incident involving King Ptolemy of Egypt, who assembled seventy-two Elders from the Sages of Israel, and put them into seventy-two separate rooms, and did not reveal to them for what purpose he assembled them, so that they would not coordinate their responses. He entered and approached each and every one, and said to each of them: Write for me a translation of the Torah of Moses your teacher. The Holy One, Blessed be He, placed wisdom in the heart of each and every one, and they all agreed to one common understanding. Not only did they all translate the text correctly, they all introduced the same changes into the translated text.”

This is how the Torah was translated into Greek.

My question is, can this source be trusted? Can we say that this happened exactly how it is written?

Answer: Where is it written?

Comment: In the Talmud.

My Response: So, why are you asking?

Question: What is considered a miracle: the fact that the 72 elders translated the Torah as if done by one translator, or that God placed in them a single wisdom, one intention? What is the miracle here?

Answer: The miracle is most likely that they all translated it as one person. The root of this was, as it is written, that God placed in them a single wisdom and one thought.

Question: How does this happen? 72 different people write the exact same text without the slightest error. How does it happen that God places this in each of them?

Answer: Because it is God. And because these are 72 special sages at the highest level of knowledge (therefore 72). The number itself is the level of the highest knowledge. That is why they were able to do it.

Question: Can we say that if God instills one intention and a single wisdom, then God wants this source, the Torah, to be spread in the world?

Answer: This has been said many times and also directly stated that these laws should be for the entire world.

Comment: It is said here that they were able to reach one common understanding.

My Response: Yes, that is the miracle.

Question: Reaching one common understanding is a miracle. If in the past, 72, 120 people, the Sanhedrin, made one decision, today two people cannot make one decision. Two! They must clash, each asserting their own opinion.

How can ordinary people, politicians, leaders, or just individuals and families come to one decision, to one opinion?

Answer: There is a lack of understanding that we are under the authority of the Almighty, and everything comes from Him. Therefore, by agreeing with others, you, in principle, come closer to the Creator.

Question: Do you mean to say that I am somehow agreeing with the Creator who is expressing Himself through another?

Answer: Yes.

Question: If I can go this far, suppress and nullify myself, can I also hear what is being said to me from above?

Answer: You will hear the Creator.

Question: Does this apply to both disputing parties, and families, and generally to any states?

Answer: It is not about hearing what the other person is saying. Through them, you will hear the Creator. This is important.

Question: Specifically through my nullification?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: You attribute such great importance to nullification.

My Response: A person nullifies their egoism, the most important thing within them, and desires only to work with receiving from outside. And “from outside” comes to them from the Creator.

Question: Are you saying that the miracle here is precisely this nullification?

Answer: Yes, that is the miracle. If we could nullify ourselves before each other, we would hear the Creator. But He is concealed behind what we say to each other without listening to others.

Question: Is he waiting for us to be able to do this, to nullify ourselves?

Answer: Yes.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 12/28/23

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Numerical Language

527.07Now you can understand that sleep [Tardema] in Gematria is “translation” [Targum]. It is also the letters Tered MA [MA will descend]...(Rashbi, Zohar for All, “Heaven and Earth”).

Question: What is the significance of the numerical value of words?

Answer: Language is a code that contains many different symbols.

We know that the Kabbalistic sources are written in Aramaic and Hebrew. And here we are also talking about the fact that there is a simple language, a written language, and a numerical language, which all indicate how words can be combined to form other words.

This is a very broad concept including how letters form words, how words form sentences, and how we can use sentences to manage the world.

The numerical value of a word implies that I can represent the word as a number or a specific set of numbers.

Question: So, could the Torah be written in the form of numbers?

Answer: Of course. How do programmers compose instructions for a computer? They write various letters, symbols, and then input them into the machine. The machine, understands these symbols, reads them, and executes the program.

Question: The thing is, the letter itself appears as a combination of certain symbols and has a specific form that expresses the relationship of forces. But what does the number mean?

Answer: The number indicates on what level these forces operate. So when a Kabbalist reads that some character in the Torah lived for 900 years, it signifies the spiritual level of that character.
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From KabTV’s “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” 1/21/24

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For All Kinds of Souls

259.01Question: If the Torah is intended for us to unite, why did the Kabbalists leave such a large amount of material that when studying we have the illusion that we are learning some other facet?

Why didn’t they write an article or articles about the need for connection so that we could study them over and over again and not get confused by so many explanations of seemingly different things?

Answer: The large number of articles depends on the division of souls, on the variations of connections between them. That is why we need such an abundance of material.

Question: If a group of people takes one article, for example, “There Is None Else Besides Him” and advance only according to it, will they reach their goal?

Answer: No, they will not. No article covers all souls.
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From the 1st oart of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/15/24, Writings of Rabash “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”

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The Mystery of the Universe

209Question: On one hand everything in the Torah is encrypted because the secrets of the universe must be hidden since people can misunderstand them. But when you begin to analyze the Torah, everything fits into one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” What is there to hide?

Answer: The fact is that in nature, inside us, in the upper governance that controls us from above, there is indeed a lot that is incomprehensible. There is no secret in this. The only secret is how we can reveal what we do not understand, get closer to the Creator, enter into His governance, look into Him, and understand Him.

Question: It is still unclear; so many books have been written, even in two languages: Hebrew and Aramaic, tens of thousands of pages! And all this just so that we can unite together and love each other! Why write so much about this? Is there really no other way for people to understand that they must unite?

Answer: In order to unite, you can write one sentence. But we see that it does not work. Therefore, a system of forces is offered that affects a person and helps him transform himself in similarity to the Creator.

Just as all of nature consists of a unity of opposites, since it was created due to the combination of different elements and parts, so people with completely different qualities must unite with each other. This process has been going on for hundreds of thousands of years throughout the universe.
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From KabTV’s “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” 1/21/24

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Commandment of Fear

591“All the commandments in the Torah that the Creator gave to Israel are written in the Torah in a general way,” in the verse “In the beginning God created,” until the verse “And there was light.” The Zohar explained that the verse “In the beginning God created” is the commandment of fear and its punishment, and all the commandments in the Torah are included in it (Zohar for All, “Rabbi Shimon’s Exit from the Cave,” #188).

The most basic commandment is fear of the Creator because the entire Torah is based on it. The fear is that if you do not fulfill the commandments of the Creator, you will be rejected. Therefore, this commandment is the cornerstone.

Question: What is the connection between the phrases “In the beginning the Almighty created” and “the commandment of fear”?

Answer: The fact is that our nature is absolute egoism, and the only thing that can force us to work, do something, and bring us closer to something is fear.

That is, “In the beginning the Almighty created” is our desire to receive, constantly fearing that it will not be filled. And then it says: until the words, “and there was light.” Light is already filling.

It turns out that a person’s fear changes since there is a difference between filling: either for oneself or for the sake of the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “Introduction of The Book of Zohar” 12/24/23

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The Commandments—The Code of Laws of the Universe

253Question: What is the Torah from the point of view of Kabbalah, and what actions are called commandments?

Answer: In the wisdom of Kabbalah, which explains the structure of the whole universe, the qualities of the Creator and His attitude toward us, there is a section called the Commandments of the Torah.

The commandments are not the mechanical implementation of the laws of the Torah at the level of our world, but the laws of the upper world that we must implement if we want to correspond to them.

The point is, in our world, if we want to feel the positive reaction of nature to our actions, we must know how to behave with it, not to lead it to destruction, burnout, flooding, and other cataclysms. That is, do what is beneficial for nature, and then it will be good for us.

The same applies to the laws explained in the Torah called commandments. These are laws of the higher level. They are about our inner attitude to the spiritual nature: how I should treat people, inanimate, animate, vegetative nature, myself, my loved ones, and so on.

That is, the Torah in principle, explains to us the entire code of laws and rules of behavior in the world around us so that we can influence it properly, and then accordingly, the world too will be tuned to us correctly.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 11/21/23

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Gradual Attainment

237Question: People who know the concealed part of the Torah are Kabbalists. But does a Kabbalist also have a part he has not yet attained?

Answer: Each person, even those who have already revealed the Creator, has a part that they attain and a part that they have not. We are not yet in the final correction.

Therefore, we always go in faith above reason, remove a small portion from the concealed part of the Torah, and turn it into revealed to us.

Question: The concealed part of the spiritual action is called a “candle commandment.” How should one act in the ten to reveal the light of the Torah?

Answer: By coming closer to each other with your hearts until you discover that fire and light are revealed inside them.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/6/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Concerning the Revealed and the Concealed“

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The Elixir of Life and Death

231.01Question: Vlad asks a lot of questions.

I know that the Torah is the greatest miracle that has happened in the world. Thanks to the Torah humanity has learned what morality, ethics, and humanism are. The Torah has become the source of life for the whole world.

And I was surprised when I suddenly heard that the Torah could be the elixir of death. It is written that it can be either the elixir of life, which is understandable, or the elixir of death, which is absolutely incomprehensible.

Could you explain how this is possible? I think something else is implied here. It cannot be death! I am sure of it! 

Answer: It depends on how you use this methodology. You either come closer to the Creator, and then it is the elixir of life. Or you can move away from the Creator, become more and more opposite to Him, and then it is the elixir of death.

Question: How can one move away from the Creator?

Answer: Man does not want to come close to the Creator! He does not want any rapprochement with the Creator at all.

Question: Meaning that initially, when beginning to study, or read, or go through this methodology, I have to set a goal: I study and read this in order to get closer to the Creator. What is rapprochement with the Creator?

Answer: Getting closer to the Creator means constantly awakening the desire for bestowal, love, and connection with others in oneself.

Question: In what case does the Torah become death?

Answer: It is if I do not think about others, about anyone, only about myself, and I egoistically perceive everything around me.

Question: So it is if I study the Torah while thinking about myself. Could it be in order to become famous, to know everything by heart? Does this all lead to death?

Answer: Yes.

Question: “Everyone reads the Torah in their own way,” says Vlad. Someone sees laws in it, someone sees the history of the nation. You are talking about forces, that there is power behind every word and name. Why does everyone see something different in the Torah?”

Answer: Because it is based on themselves. Everyone has their own special, personal spiritual root. Everyone reads it in their own way. You see how it is being interpreted.

Question: Yes, there are many different interpretations. And I, an ordinary person, read this interpretation but interpret it on my own? Or am I already proceeding from this interpretation?

Answer: You interpret it the way you were created. If you want to interpret it differently, you have to work on yourself, make yourself more giving, more loving, and so on.

Question: Then will I accept, for example, the Kabbalistic interpretation?

Answer: Then you will have to take it upon yourself.

Question: And will I interpret it in my own way or how the Kabbalists interpret it?

Answer: There is no other way, only as the Kabbalists say. You will see that this is the only way it works.

Question: Is this the elixir of life?

Answer: Yes.

Question: “When will the Torah become the elixir of life for everyone?”

Answer: This is a problem. It is when the Creator shows everyone how the world really works.

Question: You mean when there will be a revelation for the whole world?

Answer: Yes. Then, involuntarily, all people will come, agree, bow down, and want to master the Torah.

Question: Even if I held completely different opinions, lived in a different way, suddenly the Creator will reveal Himself to me and everything will turn upside down?

Answer: Everything! It is not you who turns it upside down, everything is turned upside down in you.

Question: As if all these lives and years did not exist?

Answer: Yes.

Question: How does this happen?

Answer: We will find out soon enough.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/6/23

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How Can We Be Honored with the Hidden Part of the Torah?

942Question: How can we be honored with the hidden part of the Torah? What should be the main task in spiritual work?

Answer: We should attempt to unite between us until we feel a connection with each other. This connection is our common desire, directed toward the Creator.

We try to feel our striving for the Creator in it and try to give Him this common desire in which He could manifest Himself as a desire to bestow. It is called soul.

Question: If we can only act in the revealed part of the Torah for now, how can we get closer to performing the right actions if many people are confused about that part?

Answer: It is simple. If I want to open my heart and soul to my friends, I am ready to be with them in one desire, in one movement toward each other, to unite, to merge. That is my work.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/6/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Concerning the Revealed and the Concealed“

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For the Laws of the Torah to Come to Life in Us

933Question: We once received the Torah on Mount Sinai, and after the destruction of the Second Temple we lost it. Can the same thing happen now? How do we not lose the Torah?

Answer: It was not the loss of the Torah, but the shattering of the common soul.

This happened because we were using the laws of the Torah incorrectly. But as soon as we unite, these laws will come to life within us again.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/4/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Arvut [Mutual Guarantee]“

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