A question I received: Why does the Torah justify Jacob when he lies to Esau? Esau comes to Jacob with open arms, yet Jacob turns away from him and tries to buy himself off with gifts.

My Answer: The Torah speaks about a person’s correction, whereby he becomes similar to the Creator. Jacob represents the intention of bestowal and Esau represents the will to receive, our egoism. Esau doesn’t understand that he always remains empty because his intention is “for the sake of himself,” and that only by changing it to the intention of “for others” will he instantly be filled by the Upper, eternal fulfillment – the Light. This is something egoism doesn’t understand, and that’s why a person must trick his egoism. He has to entice the ego to work on spiritual development by telling it that it will avoid suffering and to be filled by spiritual fulfillment and revelation.

This way, one’s egoism helps one to study Kabbalah, because it expects fulfillment from it. It studies Lo Lishma – for the sake of oneself. However, in the process of studying, connecting with friends, and thereby receiving the Light of Correction, the person ceases valuing the intention “for himself” and instead starts valuing the intention “to bestow” – for the sake of others, for the sake of the Creator.

This happens by virtue of the Light’s influence. And when one’s intention changes, he can begin to use his egoism (Esau) in order to receive for the sake of bestowal. This is how one attains eternal, perfect fulfillment. This maneuver is similar to the way we trick or entice a child to study, and eventually he comes to understand that it was done for his own good. This is how the Creator plays with each and every one of us.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Preface to the Science of Kabbalah. Items 13-16
Laitman.com Post: The Only Point of Freedom Is Your Reaction to the Creator
Laitman.com Post: The Goal of Creation Is Perfect Fulfillment
Article: “One Law”
Lesson on “The Introduction to the Book ‘From the Mouth of a Wise Man'”
Shamati #20: “LISHMA (for Her Name)”

Filed under: Torah - 1 Comment →

Questions I received on ghosts, death and reincarnation:

Question: Why must correction happen over numerous lifetimes instead of in one extended lifetime? Is there a spiritual necessity for corporeal death? Would people avoid correction if it meant an extended corporeal existence, thus granting egoism the victory?

My Answer: The body goes through renewal because its inner qualities are renewed. These qualities cannot go through the change while in the same body, since a particular body is always the most suitable for realizing a particular set of qualities.

Question: Will the soul of a deceased person return to this world regardless of whether this person studied Kabbalah?

My Answer: If the person didn’t study Kabbalah, he will definitely return to this world in order to correct his soul with the help of studying Kabbalah. It is only after the soul’s complete correction that a person doesn’t return to this world, which is the worst of all worlds. For more on this, see the “Introduction to the Book ‘From the Mouth of a Sage.'”

Question: When there’s a physical death, the Light departs from the will to receive, and if that person hasn’t developed a soul, then he has no soul to live in the spiritual world. Consequently, the will to receive is once again clothed into another corporeal body – this is called reincarnation. But what are ghosts: creatures that don’t have a corporeal body but they can be photographed or captured on film?

My Answer: They are no more than physical (optical) phenomena that only seem to appear to you!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Body’s Death Does Not Affect the Soul
Laitman.com Post: In Spirituality, Nothing Disappears
Laitman.com Post: Demons, Spirits, Angels, Devils – Do they Exist?
Article “Perfection and the World”
The Open Book: “The Purpose of Reincarnation According to the Zohar”

Filed under: Spirituality - 1 Comment →

I participated in a conversation for the TV Series “The Butterfly Effect.”

Speaking with me was Ram Shmueli, Brigadier-General in reserve, previously head of the Intelligence Squadron and commander of an Air Force base. Chairman of a public committee overseeing the Ministry of Education.

As chairman of a public committee overseeing the Ministry of Education, Ram understands the problems of educating the growing and adult generations on the local and global scales. But all the ministries of education are powerless to do anything. We’re helpless when it comes to what we hold most dear – our children. We are unable to shape them well, and we instead leave this task to the egoism that’s raging inside them. We just let their egoism force them to collide with one another, make them its miserable prisoners, without a moment of rest.

And all of this is happening because we did not receive the proper education either. We weren’t brought up to be “human beings”; we didn’t receive an explanation of our make up, desires, and qualities, of what governs us, where our freedom of choice lies, what are the laws governing an individual and the society, and what the laws of our development are. In fact, we don’t know anything about ourselves or what’s around us. This is why our life looks the way it does – it’s taking place in the dark.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Need to Nurture the Proper Perception In Children
Laitman.com Post: How To Help Teachers and Parents

Filed under: Education - No Comments →

Our materials are now available in Catalan. This language is spoken in Catalonia, Valencia (Spain), the Balearic Islands and several other European countries:

Filed under: Notices - No Comments →

News Report (from The Associated Press): German Sterligov, a onetime boy wonder of Russia’s young market economy and one of Russia’s first multimillionaires, claims to have a solution to his country’s economic turmoil. He and former business associates, he said, have set up an “anti-crisis commodity transactions center” for commodity bartering. “It is an electronic substitute for money, not linked with the dollar, euro or ruble,” he explained. Sterligov predicted that agriculture and land ownership will soon become the new oil for the oligarchs. “A lot of them are looking at the land and cows now,” he said. “Metals are no longer valuable. It’s sheep, cows, oats, grain, olive oil, honey that’s turned into gold.”

My Comment: Well, what else is one to do when a bank turns out to be the least reliable place to keep your money or mediate your payments? But there’s no going back. Humanity will not be able to go back to a barter system or even to bills and notes. This would only be possible in very limited locations and amounts. The program of creation will force us to forgo all the tricks and realize that the only available path is to correct our ego!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: What’s the Surest Bet to Save Your Money In Time of Crisis?
Laitman.com Post: Unity for the Right Purpose Can Stabilize the Banking System
Laitman.com Post: The World Is Round

Filed under: Crisis - No Comments →

Questions I received on interpreting Kabbalistic terms and phrases:

Question: What is Shechina?

My Answer: It is the desire to reveal the Creator, and if the desire is whole, then the Creator becomes revealed inside it. The Creator is called Shochen – one who fills this desire.

Question: What is the recognition of evil?

My Answer: It’s when you get to know you own egoism!

Question: Is suffering the same as falling behind in realizing the Reshimo?

My Answer: Yes!

Question: Can we envision humanity’s path of development as a ready-made, paved route from the point of “Adam” to the point of “the Creator”?

My Answer: That is absolutely correct!

Question: How are we to understand this verse: “Rabbi Shimon said: ‘Kill the best of the Egyptians, and split the head of the best snake’”?

My Answer: Egypt and the snake are your egoism.

Question: What is the Kabblistic meaning of the verse, “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk”?

My Answer: Don’t mix the developing egoism (the young goat) with bestowal (the quality of Bina, milk). If you do, not only will you fail to correct egoism, but you’ll make the egoism even bigger due to the quality of bestowal (Bina): you will get “bestowal for the sake of reception” instead of “reception for the sake of bestowal.”

Question: Can we say that the inanimate matter, plants, and animals are angels? They are like angels (spiritual forces that influence us) because they have no freedom of will.

My Answer: That’s right!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Why Do We Feel Suffering?
Laitman.com Post: Angels in Kabbalah
The Path of Kabbalah: “The Recognition of Evil”
Lesson on Shamati #2: “Divinity in Exile”
Foreword to the Book: “The Tree of Life”
Shamati #86: “And They Built Store-Cities”

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

Questions I received on the recognition of evil and the study of Kabbalah:

Question: What are we supposed to do after we go through the recognition of evil?

My Answer: If you have recognized the evil within you, then you will hate it so much that you’ll direct all your energy to eradicating it out of you. This is what you have to do. However, if you still haven’t reached the recognition that egoism is evil, if you’re still able to keep on living with it, then you’ll come to me asking me what to do…

Question: What should I do if along with my great desire for spirituality, I’m afraid to lose the few good things that I still have in this life?

My Answer: If you still think that there’s something good about the present state, then you still haven’t reached the recognition of evil.

Question: I understand that we all must unite in a common aspiration for the Creator. But how does one avoid becoming a zombie?

My Answer: You should study the materials and instructions written by Kabbalists. Follow them, evoke the influence of the Upper Light upon you – and It will change you in whatever way is necessary.

The Light acts by revealing and concealing Itself. This is how It develops a person, making him free. As a result, It makes him Human – comprised of the entire created desire and all its filling. The Light is called the Light of Hochma – the Light of Wisdom.

Zombies are all the people without free will – those who are in this world, before entering the Upper World. That’s because they have only one, egoistic nature of reception. For more on this, see Baal HaSulam’s article “The Freedom.”

Question: Is it possible for a person to be restricted from above so he is prevented from studying the Science of Kabbalah because it still isn’t his time to reach the full correction, regardless of his efforts and desire to study?

My Answer: There are no restrictions from above for anyone! You mistakenly see the obstacles intended to develop your desire, as being restrictions. Concealment, partial concealment, and the Creator’s “flirtation” with a person all serve to develop his aspiration to the goal.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Technique of Entering the Upper World
Laitman.com Post: The Special Power of Kabbalah
Interview with the Future: “The Exodus from Egypt – from Corporeality to Spirituality”
The Kabbalah Experience: “Rav, Disciple and Group”
Lesson on Baal HaSulam Letter: “Pri Hacham Igrot (Letters) P. 25”

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

Three questions I received on spiritual attainment throughout different life cycles:

Question: If one’s soul has already ascended to a certain degree in the previous life cycle, how does one ascend in the current life cycle?

My Answer: In the new life cycle, the person quickly attains his previous spiritual level and then continues to ascend higher. It’s because the soul has no age, and the body’s death does not affect it at all.

Question: Is it possible to reach the next spiritual level in the current life cycle, without dying first?

My Answer: Anyone whose point in the heart has been revealed can attain his full correction within one life cycle, without leaving it and returning for another life cycle.

Question: How do the people who never knew or studied Kabbalah attain the Upper Spirit? What is the outcome of their life when they leave our world? Do they attain the Light unconsciously, and to what degree?

My Answer: To attain the Upper Spirit means to attain the Upper Light. This is possible only by means of a screen – an anti-egoistic quality that emerges in us under the influence of the Upper Correcting Light (Ohr Makif). This Light descends on us only during the study of authentic Kabbalistic sources.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: What Will Happen to the World if I Die?
Laitman.com Post: The Only Books That Can Correct Egoism In Our Generation Are Baal HaSulam’s
Laitman.com Post: The Book of Zohar. Chapter “Raising a Prayer” – 1
Free online Kabbalah course

Filed under: Spirituality - 1 Comment →

News Report (translated from MIGnews.com): Millions of people all over the world are immersing into Second Life – the new virtual madness that encompasses all areas of human life. In the past week alone, 1.4 million new members have become immersed in this obsession. There they construct themselves and seek adventures in the new, exotic reality.

My Comment: Actually, we’ve been doing this throughout all of human history. It just wasn’t as obvious as it is now, through a screen. Our culture is but a distraction from the purpose of creation, as is all the “exciting” entertainment we fill our lives with. They all have the same root – to run away from the question about the meaning of life.

The problem is that the old methods of “killing time” don’t attract us anymore. They’re too weak. In the virtual word, however, we can let our imagination soar, plus we get this illusion that anything we desire is within a moment’s reach. However, soon enough our egoism will outgrow this as well, and we will have to seek the true fulfillment – the Light, the Creator.

That’s because He created us, and our egoistic development will bring us to Him. This is why the Torah refers to our egoism (when speaking about the created woman): “Ezer Ke Negdo” – your helper, who is against you.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: It’s Time to Implement Baal HaSulam’s Dream – In Virtual Space!
Laitman.com Post: Now You Can Share Perceptions Through the Internet
Kabbalah Today Article: Better Than the Virtual World!?
Kabbalah Today Article: What Is “Second Life”?
Kabbalah Today Article: Are You Connected?
Kabbalah In Second Life

Filed under: Internet - No Comments →

Our center was visited by a film crew from Channel 2, Israel’s most popular television channel, which attracts millions of viewers each week. The film crew was headed by Roni Kuban – journalist, director, and script writer.

The crew spent five days working at our center. Their objective was to understand what is happening here. They came to us with this proposition, and we agreed because we are open to everyone. Of course, there’s a chance that they won’t understand anything and will write and show us “as usual.” It is impossible for us to influence the content of their program. However, we could not turn down the opportunity to tell people about Kabbalah on the most popular program of the most popular TV channel.

Next Tuesday we will see what they “cooked up.” They’re nice guys, but the nature of their job requires them to get “the juicy scoop,” to deliver something scandalous. Besides, it’s not always easy to understand what Kabbalah has to say. Personally, I place my hopes on the viewers to be able to read between the lines, and because they feel the crisis that is happening, they will understand that Kabbalah offers the solution. This is being done for them!

Below you can watch or listen to two of my conversations with Roni Kuban (in Hebrew):

Filed under: Television - 2 Comments →