Thinking Of Others Is The Key To Ending The Crisis

wordsA question I received: The end to the crisis is constantly being postponed. First people said it would end in a couple of months, then – a couple of years, and today they say that it may take ten years. How can we survive for so many years without any benefits, pensions, food reserves, and ability to pay for heat and electricity? When will the crisis end according to Kabbalah?

My Answer: It will end when each person will begin to think about everyone else instead of himself.

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Dreams: The Spiritual Meaning

what-is-true-prayerA question I received: It says in the treatise Brachot that one who dreams that he’s reciting Shema Israel (Hear, O Israel) should be awarded with the presence of the Shechina (the Divine Presence), yet his generation is not worthy. How does Kabbalah explain this text? What is the spiritual significance of dreams, and what is the spiritual state of a person who dreams this particular dream?

My Answer: A dream does not mean a regular dream of our animate bodies, but rather a particular state of the soul’s ascent. In this state, a person feels the Upper Level; however, he doesn’t feel It directly inside his desire, but in a manner that is concealed from him.

Then, after one makes efforts to attain greater self-correction, the dream becomes reality: the person rises to the next spiritual level. If one dreams of reciting the Shema, then the next level for him is to attain adhesion with the Creator. This is what the Shema represents, and is why one is awarded with the presence of the Shechina – the revelation of the Creator. However, his generation (his present state) is not yet worthy (not yet corrected enough) for the revelation of the Creator.

If you want to understand everything correctly, start by understanding that the entire universe is inside a person, and all the names and descriptions refer to his qualities and states. This is what we learn in “the perception of reality” section of Kabbalah. You will then see that a dream is one of the highest spiritual states of a wakeful Kabbalist.

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One Who Buys A Slave, Buys A Master

Religion Is a Cultural Tradition, Whereas Kabbalah Deals With Man's Correction Through Revealing the LightA question I received: You say that the Jews were always a spiritual nation and they were like this ever since their nation emerged, since the times of Abraham. And you say that everyone was equal. But what about your slaves?

My Answer: The Jews were not a nation, but a part of the Babylonians, who followed Abraham from Babylon to Canaan (Israel). This group united around the idea of “Love your neighbor as yourself.” What united them is the desire to attain this quality and thereby to become equivalent to the Creator. Equivalence of form with the Creator allows one to reveal the Creator, and this is the goal of creation.

Regarding the slaves, you should not think that the Jews’ attitude toward their slaves was anything like their treatment in other nations. It is says in the Torah (Shemot 21:26) that if a man strikes his slave, or hurts his eye or tooth, he must let him go free. There was a prohibition against tormenting the slaves. An amendment to the law (Mechiltah) specifies that if the owner inflicts any damage on the slave, the owner must let his slave go free.

In essence, a slave was a worker who did not receive payment for his work, but the owner was obligated to care for the slave in the same way he would if he were free. Moreover, other sources say that one who bought a slave bought a master. Also, see texts that speak about the owner’s responsibility to marry a female slave, etc.

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“Why Socialism?”- An Essay By Albert Einstein

einsteinThe below is an excerpt from Albert Einstein’s essay Why Socialism? (from the Monthly Review). This essay was originally published in the first issue of Monthly Review, in May 1949. Today the magazine is the oldest and largest Marxist magazine in the US.

I have now reached the point where I may indicate briefly what to me constitutes the essence of the crisis of our time. It concerns the relationship of the individual to society. The individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence upon society. But he does not experience this dependence as a positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather as a threat to his natural rights, or even to his economic existence.

Moreover, his position in society is such that the egotistical drives of his make-up are constantly being accentuated, while his social drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate. All human beings, whatever their position in society, are suffering from this process of deterioration. Unknowingly prisoners of their own egotism, they feel insecure, lonely, and deprived of the naive, simple, and unsophisticated enjoyment of life. Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society.

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Babylon Is Where The First “Man” Originated

spiritual

Two questions I received on man’s origin and the Tower of Babel:

Question: You say that we all came from ancient Babylon. How do you reconcile this with science that says that life started in Africa and that humanity started to migrate from Africa and then spread to other countries?

My Answer: We don’t study where life originated or where the creature called “man” emerged, but rather where the first Man (in Hebrew, Adam – similar to the Creator) emerged. He was the first man because he attained the Creator by becoming similar to Him. He was the first Kabbalist and he left us the book, The Secret Angel (Raziel HaMalach).

Question: At the end of Lesson 6 at the Congress you compared our spiritual growth using Kabbalah with the Tower of Babel. My understanding of the Tower of Babel in Beresheet Ch. 11 was that it was an evil attempt of mankind to be like G-d. Please explain how your comparison relates to the understanding of the Torah understanding.

My Answer: You can find the explanation in the book, From Chaos to Harmony.

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What Should Women Strive For?

Perserverance Is the Key to SuccessThree questions I received on women’s roles and tasks:

Question: At one of the lessons, you said that a woman has to reach the quality of “bestowal for the sake of bestowal,” while a man needs to reach the quality of “reception for the sake of bestowal.” Does this mean that a woman cannot ascend higher than the degree of “bestowal for the sake of bestowal”?

My Answer: She can, but only by helping the men.

Question: You said that only the men have to reach the degree of “love your neighbor as yourself,” through the group. So what are we, the women of Bnei Baruch, trying to achieve?

My Answer: You have to support the men in accomplishing this task. This is how you will receive your entire correction. As we are told in regard to the Torah’s reception: the men have to achieve a “Mutual Guarantee,” and the women have to help them.

Question: Am I correct in my understanding that the women’s task is to direct and help the men come out of the animate egoism? And maybe men will then see us, the women, differently also?

My Answer: Definitely! The female part of humanity actually directs the male part.

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