In the News (from The Los Angeles Times): “The Road to Area 51” After decades of denying the facility’s existence, five former insiders speak out. So, what of those urban legends – the UFOs studied in secret, the underground tunnels connecting clandestine facilities? … Conspiracy theories were left to popular imagination. But in talking with Collins, Lovick, Slater, Barnes and Martin, it is clear that much of the folklore was spun from threads of fact.

My Comment: What a disappointment! Still, this won’t convince or deter the dreamers – they will continue searching for life in lifeless space. You cannot kill hope!

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TV Program: “Ask the Kabbalist”

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A question I received: If every person affects the world positively or negatively with his influence, then what determines the general picture?

My Answer: The higher one ascends and develops spiritually, the more power he gains. The greatest power is the power of thought. Ordinary people influence the world with their thoughts, desires, and actions, but the extent of their influence is very small, even though there are six billion people.

The world is not static. One always sees it differently based on one’s changing qualities. When you realize that the world is your individual impression, you recognize that it’s necessary to change yourself, rather than improve the world. You must correct yourself in order for the world to change.

If you do so, then you will discover how the Upper Force affects everything that happens, and this will change your entire model of perception and your interpretation of what you perceive. Will people feel better? Will unemployment and hunger end? Will companies really bring their workers back to work? Yes! We will see this happen with our very own eyes.

Baal HaSulam writes in the article, “The Creator’s Concealment and Revelation,” that nothing changes in our world except the Creator’s revelation or concealment. Therefore, it will help us a great deal to stop viewing this world as a static picture that’s constant before us. We should instead understand that the world depends entirely on our perception, on our qualities and inner conception. We will then begin to correct our flaws, and as a result, to see the will of the Creator in everything that happens.

The science of Kabbalah helps us accomplish this. By definition, it is the method of revealing the Creator to the created beings in this world. In the meantime, this world is the picture that you feel today.

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Lesson on Baal HaSulam Article: “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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In the News (from ABC News): EPA Holds Bedbug Summit in Arlington The federal government is waking up to what has become a growing nightmare in many parts of the country – a bedbug outbreak. Faced with rising numbers of complaints, the Environmental Protection Agency hosted its first-ever bedbug summit Tuesday.

The EPA, out of concern for the environment and the effects on public health, has pulled many of the chemicals that were most effective in eradicating the bugs from the U.S. over the last 50 years – such as DDT – off of shelves.

My Comment: Kabbalistic texts mention that outbreaks are one of the signs of the crisis. However, the crisis is caused by man’s imbalance with Nature. Nature is interconnected and it requires that people:

1. Consume only as much as necessary for their existence

2. Develop a connection among each other as one body

Failure to fulfill these conditions results in nonconformity and imbalance with Nature, which leads to all sorts of negative consequences. However, all of these are caused by us, by our behavior.

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From Chaos to Harmony: Chapter 10 – “Balance With Nature”

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A question I received: I don’t understand: who else do I have to take into consideration? I feel that I take everyone into consideration, and I’m good to my neighbors and my parents.

My Answer: I see a lot of people who are like you, but this is not enough! If you aren’t going out to kill and rob your neighbors, to steal from and rape them, and you even water their flower pots, then this doesn’t make you truly “considerate”: you’re only doing this because of your egoism. You’re doing it because you know that by treating each other this way, our lives will be nice and comfortable.

Today Nature requires more than this from us. It wants us to really take care of each other. This is something totally different than what we are doing now. You have to worry about and take care of others as if they were your own children. Obviously, this is against our egoistic nature. Yet, we have to get there! A new law of Nature is being revealed and it obligates us to do this.

Imagine you are sent to a country where this law is enforced. Every time you break this law, you are heavily punished. So what do you do in this case? You have no choice – you have to find someone who will teach you this law, give you an explanation, set an example, and grant you the desire and strength to abide by it. You have to find someone who will influence you, making it easier for you to change. If everyone around you will talk about this, then surely, you will also agree to abide by this law. If they set an example of this, you will also begin acting like them, even if you initially didn’t want to.

A person agrees to anything when he is faced with no choice. This law has dropped down on us from above and we are obliged to accept it.

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When Kabbalah’s idea will come to life, the process will unfold of its own accord; people will simply begin to understand everything and to act accordingly. Everything will advance forward, as if humanity is being sucked into a “spiritual vortex.” The idea of restoring and correcting the single human body, Adam, will slowly become a reality.

Prominent people the world over will begin to talk about this and to take this idea further. They will create various committees and forums, and all the media channels will talk about it. Everyone will see that the world is globally interconnected. The idea will simply come to them and they will know how to use it.

It can happen very quickly: in just one day, people all over the world may awaken. Organizations as big as the UN, UNESCO and the World Bank will accept this idea and begin the process of rearranging their relationships. The financiers, politicians, and G20 leaders will begin to see this clearly, and will come together to discuss it.

The method we always talk about in Kabbalah will surface within them. This will happen simply because we’ve worked on it. And the world will then implement this idea – people will begin to aspire to the Creator in the right way. They will already know how to proceed, and will recognize that the path lies in unity among people. The people will know what to do because they will know how to unite with one another.

As soon as the world will begin to understand and desire this idea, everything in the world will change in an instant. It’s not necessary to take any practical measures, because we are dealing with people’s desires and intentions, which are immediately expressed and realized. When the interpersonal relationships will begin to follow this method, suddenly everything will begin to work. Nature will be kind to people, and everyone will shift to a good, correct and peaceful path of development.

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In the News (from The Telegraph): Brazil’s racy telenovelas inspire drop in birth rate, rise in divorce, a new report has found. Over the two decades that were studied, an estimated three million fewer Brazilian babies were born than would have been if telenovelas had never been broadcast, and 800,000 more couples separated or divorced. What is more, they added, “Women living in areas covered by the Globo signal have significantly lower fertility.” Alberto Chong, one of the study’s authors, said the reason for the change was the “aspirational ethos” of the country’s soaps.

My Comment: And what would happen if we’d perform the same experiment using good, positive examples?

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Today there is a new law being revealed in the world – that of everyone’s interconnection. We, however, are learning about this law by opposing it, by resisting being together. We were initially divided in order to learn about unity, using the examples of separation and the rejection of unity. Otherwise we will not understand anything. The Light is revealed only in contrast to darkness.

This is why today we hate the fact that our integration and interconnection are being revealed. We do not want this, and every person desires to fence himself off from others. Moreover, this desire only becomes bigger all the time. We are in danger of becoming more egoistic, even to the point of Nazism. The only thing that can protect us from this is an explanation, which will show us that our total interconnection is the new law.

Everyone will want to separate. Everyone thinks, “There are so many problems coming my way. What will I eat? Maybe I should store away some supplies for a rainy day.” And while people do have to take care of these needs, at the same time they should realize that they have to correct their relationships with the whole world. It is possible to do both at the same time.

We have to become familiar with the law of our total, mutual connection – the law of the “Mutual Guarantee.” Today we are revealing that this law is incumbent upon us. We will have to go through “seven years of famine in Egypt” in order to realize that our egoism is evil, and we will then be able to “come out of Egypt” – rise above our egoism and be in harmony.

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Filed under: Egoism - 1 Comment →

In the News (from Interfax): “Fridman believes the Old Testament mentioned inevitability of economic crises” The head of Alfa Group Mikhail Fridman believes all economic crises, including the current one, were predicted in biblical times.

“Economics in general is a cyclical process linked to many parameters, mainly to cycles of human consciousness. It evaluates situations as improving and then suddenly it decides that everything is bad and it’s better to sell everything. Starting from the story of Joseph, who promised the pharaoh ‘seven years of plenty and seven years of famine,’ this peculiarity of human psyche and peculiarity of natural cycles were not questioned,” Fridman said at a session of the Russian Jewish Congress business club.

In the News (translated from Cursor.co.il): Regarding the Russian economy, Mikhail Fridman said he had good news and bad news:

• The bad news is that due to a lack of diversified sources of forming the GDP, the stabilization fund may be exhausted by 2009-2010.

• The good news is that the crisis will eliminate inefficient managers and businesses, replacing them with more efficient ones.

My Comment: I met with him two years ago in his office and told him my opinion of the crisis, but I don’t think he understood me at the time. The economic crisis was not apparent yet and he wasn’t interested in other crises.

Seven years of plenty are gone forever. Seven years of famine are here, and they will end with the “ten Egyptian plagues,” which will force us to come out of Egypt – our egoism. We will have to transform the entire economy from egoistic – based on maximum profit, to altruistic – based on maximum bestowal.

As a matter of fact, I did enjoy meeting him, especially when he recited his poems!

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We say that the modern world has become global and integral, and all the people in the world are now connected to each other. Is this a fact that’s described in some book, treaty, or convention? Or is it an indisputable fact that exists in the world? Where does this phenomenon come from?

Just as the force of gravity influences everything on earth, so the force of our connection is being revealed today. Until recently, this force – the connection between us – was not apparent, and everyone was free to do whatever they wanted. Today, however, we are dependent on this force and controlled by it.

This force connects everyone’s thoughts, desires, and actions with everyone else. It’s as if we are in a net that was imposed on us from above and that holds us together. In it, every person unwillingly influences everyone, and everyone influences each and every one of us – through thoughts, desires, and actions.

This force, this absolute interdependency, is being revealed to us in order to make us want to unite as one, and to reach the “Mutual Guarantee.” When we reach this state, we will reveal an Upper Intelligent Force – the Creator.

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In the News (from Ynetnews): “Fischer: Israel handled crisis well” President Peres expressed his proficiency in the Israeli economy and revealed that he reads articles written by the world’s greatest economist. “I was surprised to read important economists saying they have reached the conclusion that there is an economic factor influencing the economy more than anything else and which they have no knowledge of: The state of mind,” said the president, noting that there are ways to deal with a state of mind. “I think that in Israel as well it’s important not to sink into melancholy,” he said. “My impression is that compared to other countries we are above the average. …we are on the right track, at least in terms of regulation.”

My Comment: What these economists are calling the “state of mind” is actually the influence of the human attitude on the economy. This influence is, in fact, the defining factor, because the economy is a reflection of society’s relationships.

Because the relationships have become different – global, the economy must now account for people’s complete inter-connectedness. Economists should understand that in the future, those who will succeed and win are the ones that build business for the common good.

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