A question I received on how to raise children:

Question: When my three year old son sees me doing something, he immediately wants to join me and do the same thing. Sometimes this bothers me; I want him to go play on his own while I finish working or doing something at home. My wife says it’s important for my son to do these things with me, and I feel that she’s right, but I cannot convince myself of this.

Answer: This is very important because it creates a connection between you, teaches your son and develops him. Actually, this is the only way that a person can develop – by imitating others.

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Two questions I received on study opportunities for women:

Question: Several times I have heard women, children, and slaves be referred to as one soul. I don’t understand this attitude, especially in light of the enormous work women do in studying and disseminating.

My Answer: You are hearing it adversely: everything described in Kabbalah speaks about the correction of the soul. Every person is an egoist, regardless of one’s gender, and all people have to correct themselves. This is what you should think of, instead of thinking that you are deprived of the opportunity to be corrected and to attain the Creator.

I advise you to stop trying to “blame men for everything,” and instead to recognize the opportunity you have been given. Unfortunately, instead of correction, many women focus on looking for someone to blame for the fact that they are women.

Question: Two years ago, I asked for women to have an opportunity to ask questions and receive answers. You personally promised to solve this problem. However, to this day I am unaware of such an opportunity. As you know, women have never been able to ask questions during the morning lessons.

My Answer: I assure you that many women ask questions through the Internet during the morning lessons, providing male names. In addition, we have sections for women and children on our website, where you can ask anything you like.

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In the News (from The Investment Blog): The debt to income ratio [in the US] went from 70% in the 1990s to 140% now. Retrenchment of the U.S. consumer will result in a painful rebalancing in the economy and a cumulative contraction of personal consumption close to US$600bn.

My Comment: These numbers are correct if we don’t change the world with our attitude to it and to all our debts. We need to perform a universal revision, and jointly make a decision about how to live, according to the laws of Nature that govern us. Then we will understand how we can easily come out of the recession together.

In the News: (from BBC News): Japan’s parliament has passed legislation to give a cash hand-out to every resident in attempt to boost the recession-hit economy. Most people will get at least 12,000 yen ($121; £86) under the $20bn plan.

My Comment: Actually, people will just put this money away for harder times.

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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YrzjrmuaUI]

My Comment: For now, this is the only conclusion that the G-20 participants are able to reach. But even this is a good thing, since it allows them to feel their total interdependence.

After holding a few more of their pointless meetings, they will realize that it’s necessary to learn to live differently in order to feel secure, and to be sure that no one will get you where it hurts the most.

They will then have to teach themselves, their people, and the whole world about the world’s globality and the condition of the mutual guarantee (Arvut), until reaching the sublime goal of, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

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In the News (from Gallup): “Religion Provides Emotional Boost to World’s Poor” Gallup Polls in 143 countries reveal that among countries where average annual incomes are $2,000 or less, 92% of residents say religion is an important part of their daily lives, [whereas] among the richest countries surveyed ($25,000/yr or more) – that figure drops to 44%.

Societies naturally grow more secular as they modernize; religion is in fact a powerful positive force for disadvantaged populations – a literal form of “social security” – in times of crisis.

My Comment: The time of enlightenment isn’t here just yet. Kabbalah will enable humanity to reveal all of creation – this world and the Upper World together, and then the age of unfounded faith will be replaced with the age of Knowledge, as it is written, “And all will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest.”

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A question I received: Everyone knows that you smoke, and that Rabash and Baal HaSulam did too. Can smoking really cause cancer or other severe illnesses, as we are told? You have said that you aren’t sure that all the commotion surrounding cigarettes is justified, but if science affirms that they are harmful, then they are harmful. I am fond of smoking, but I am afraid that it harms me and those around me. What can you say about this?

My Answer: I use nicotine in “moderate doses”- 2 to 4 cigarettes a day. I believe that a few cigarettes a day aren’t harmful if combined with exercise, such as fast walking for 1 hour a day, bicycling twice a week for 1 hour, stretching, massage, and swimming 400 strokes in 1/2 hour (this is what I do at 63 years of age).

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A news report and questions I received about the future:

In the News:(from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty): A Levada Center poll released on March 5 found that 50 percent of Russians believe the country faces an external military threat.

My Comment: The crisis will force the entire world to unite, and then such suspicions will vanish.

Question: In recent times, books propagating war and mass destruction are in high demand, and people take them seriously. Will we be able to prevent the suffering that extremist organizations have in store for humanity?

My Answer: This is exactly why Kabbalah has been revealed to humanity: to enable us to go through the phase of correction peacefully, through realization, instead of suffering and wars.

Question: Why are you convinced that the third world war will be “nuclear”? Why aren’t you viewing the present situation as a third economic world war?

My Answer: This is what Baal HaSulam wrote almost a hundred years ago, before the atomic bomb was even invented.

Question: “And they will prevent Israel from returning to their own land until the merit of the children of Ishmael shall have become exhausted. And the sons of Ishmael will fight mighty battles in the world, and the sons of Edom will gather against them, and make war against them, some on land, others on sea.” What is the Kabbalistic explanation of this excerpt, which is about the end of days?

My Answer: It is about the end of the world’s egoistic existence.

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In the News (from The Baltic Course): “Estonians plan to create virtual ‘happiness bank‘” In times of economic woe, Estonians are banking on ideas to lift their spirits above the gloom and doom of recession with an online “happiness bank.” In the virtual “happiness bank,” people will be able to earn virtual money on their accounts by doing good deeds for those in need. Organizers hope it will give people the idea that doing good is as valuable as earning money. “The main aim of the project is to force people to become actively involved in improving their lives instead of passively hoping that someone else will do it,” said Rainer Nolvak, one of the main organizers of the project.

My comment: This is a praiseworthy initiative. We have to try different methods to show people that fulfillment and satisfaction do not depend on the amount of money in their bank accounts, but only on the society’s attitude to them.

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In the News: (from CNN Money): “US Foreclosure Filings In February Up 30% On Year” Slightly more than 290,000 properties – one in every 440 housing units – were slapped with a foreclosure filing in February, up nearly 30% from a year earlier [and] a roughly 6% increase from January.

My Comment: This wave of eviction can spread to the whole world, until the government will realize that this poses a threat to it, in which case it might issue an order to stop the foreclosures and evictions. But what will the authorities do when the hungry population starts revolting?

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Two questions I received on the role of Kabbalah in daily life:

Question: I study Kabbalah intensively and I was at the 2009 Congress. The more I begin to understand Kabbalah, the more I want to move away from the egoistic society. Isn’t that egoistic on my part?

My Answer: We need to exist in this world and to help make it better through our participation in it. You should perceive the world’s influence as help rather than an obstruction: it is “help against you.” These obstructions are actually constant additions to your desire (Aviut), and by overcoming them you will rise toward the Creator. Without them, you would be deprived of the opportunity to ascend.

Question: How can I incorporate Kabbalah into my daily life? I feel that the environment really influences me. Does the fact that I study Kabbalah mean that I have to forget my other interests?

My Answer: Without forcing yourself, put yourself under the influence of the group and the studies. Start participating in dissemination and teaching others, and then you will gradually move away from your other “interests.” Later, other obstructions will emerge, and you will have to apply the same remedy to them, until you’ll reach the state of complete unification with others and a sensation of the Upper Force within it.

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