In the News (from Medical News Today): “Genetic Fitness May Explain Why Intelligent People Are Often Healthier” UK and US researchers found that more intelligent people are often healthier, and suggest that this could be due to what they describe as a genetic “fitness factor” whereby both body fitness (health) and brain fitness (intelligence) are influenced by genetic differences among people. [The researchers] found that lower intelligence predicted diverse health problems, and did so more strongly than the life-style factors.

My Comment: One’s intelligence depends on nature, but one’s education depends on the person. This is the means a person has to alter his fate. Jealousy, envy, and desires for fame, popularity, and power help a person to develop his intellect and creativity, and to lead a healthier lifestyle.

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Joe Smith began his day by waking up to the sound of the alarm clock (made in Japan). While the coffee was brewing in the coffeemaker (made in China), he shaved using a razor (made in Hong Kong). He then put on his boxers (made in Sri Lanka), jeans (made in Singapore) and running shoes (made in Korea).

After making breakfast using an electric grill (made in India), he took out his calculator (made in Mexico) to see what his budget for the day was. After verifying the time on his watch (made in Taiwan) against the time on the radio (made in India), he got into his car (made in Germany), filled it up with gas (made in Saudi Arabia) and took off to search for a well-paying American job.

Back home after another unsuccessful day, Joe sat down at his computer (made in Malaysia) to relax a little. He put on his slippers (made in Brazil), poured himself a glass of wine (made in France) and then turned on the TV (made in Indonesia) wondering why it is that he can’t find himself a well-paying job in America. However, he hopes that the American president – made in Kenya – can help him!

My Comment: And if Joe were to examine the constituent parts of all the above products, he would realize that their production involved all the countries of the world!

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In the News (from The VosIzNeia): The number of haredim (ultra-Orthodox) employed in industry in Jerusalem has ballooned by some 70% over the past five years, according to Yitzhak Reif, the chairman of the Jerusalem chapter of the Manufacturers Association of Israel. Reif called on the leaders of the capital’s various ultra-Orthodox sects to allow their followers to pursue a technological education and a career in industry.

My Comment: This is one of the most useful social initiatives that has taken place in recent years! This will bring the Orthodox community closer to the other parts of Israeli society. There’s no doubt that separating religion and state will promote peace in the society.

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A question I received: Are there any people who are considered saints in Kabbalah? Does this concept exist? How can you explain the phenomenon of imperishable relics left behind by saints or holy people? This is a concept that exists in different religions. Is it possible that these people attained the quality of absolute love and bestowal during their lifetimes, and therefore they did not die, but their souls simply left their bodies? And is this considered sanctity?

My Answer: Man’s body is an animal that eventually dies and decomposes into the basic elements. And the soul bears no relation to the body. Baal HaSulam even used to say, “I don’t care where they bury my sack of bones.”

A holy man is someone who attains equivalence with the Creator while living in this world, by developing the desire to “love one’s neighbor as oneself.” As for the body, you can perform every imaginable organ transplant, you can replace all of the body parts, and you can perform blood transfusions. This will not affect the soul in any way. Doctors are already able to replace the heart, and soon they’ll even be able to perform brain transplants. That’s because our information is not stored in the brain, but in the field surrounding it.

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In the News (from MIT News): “Research deciphers ‘déjà-vu’ brain mechanics” Neuroscientists at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT report in the June 7 early online edition of Science that they have identified for the first time a neuronal mechanism that helps us rapidly distinguish similar, yet distinct, places.

Forming memories of places and contexts in which episodes occur engages a part of the brain called the hippocampus. Researchers believe that a set of neurons called place cells fire to provide a sort of blueprint for any new space we encounter. The next time we see the space, those same neurons fire. Thus we know when we’ve been somewhere before and don’t have to relearn our way around familiar turf.

But if we enter a space very similar to one we have seen before, a new but overlapping set of neurons creates the blueprint. When there is enough overlap between the two sets, we experience an eerie feeling of déjà vu – a French phrase that literally means, “already seen.”

My Comment: This is just one example of how people today are finding prosaic explanations of all their misconceptions, such as past lives, journeys through time, and other “mysterious” occurrences.

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Baal HaSulam writes in the articles, “The Revelation of Godliness (Matan Torah)” and “The Arvut,” that the overarching purpose of creation is for the whole of humanity to reach its correction, known as equivalence of form with the Creator. All the souls have a part in reaching this purpose, because there is just one creation, but it is divided into many parts in order to make the common correction happen more easily.

But besides creation’s division into many parts or souls, all of creation is also divided into the following two parts:

• The part that received the method of correction and implemented it, but later fell back into egoism. This part of creation is called “the people of Israel.”
• The part of creation that did not receive the method of correction. However, when the first part fell, it came closer to the second part of creation, and now both can reach the general, complete correction of egoism in all of creation.

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A question I received: We are all connected together in the system of souls as one. But how can we have a positive influence on the collective consciousness, which is full of hatred?

My Answer: To do this, we have to feel that we don’t have a choice, that we are getting close to self-annihilation, to a life that is worse than death, and that we can’t avoid this. This feeling will make people want to connect to others. People’s nature, the egoistic desire to receive pleasure, will drive them to it. People will desire this because it will be the only way to feel good.

Even now, we are capable of “giving for the sake of reception,” for example, when we pay for something we need at a shop. Even this simple transaction is a small sacrifice. There is no such thing in the animal kingdom or with little children. In other words, this does not come from our instincts.

However, every person has to understand that he has a responsibility to connect with others correctly. And people should make every effort they can to learn about the right connection. Humanity is a closed system, and like in every closed system, everything must be aimed at supporting and preserving unity, balance and harmony. If these are broken, then every member of the system will suffer. One part of the system cannot feel good at the expense of another.

This is the wisdom we have to teach people. Everyone in the world has to learn the new rules of conduct in the world we are living in today.

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All people originated from the integral, unified, universal system called “Adam.” Later the connections between the parts of this system were severed, and this is the meaning of “Adam’s fall from grace.” When people will restore these ties, they will begin to appreciate and value the act of correction, the quality of bestowal and love.

Public opinion will make every individual respect and desire the reinstatement of the ties between people. Society will extol the correction of the connections between people, because this correction will guarantee the society’s survival. People will see that actions aimed at correction give them and their children life, energy, oxygen, food and security.

Correction means that people restore the attitude of love and bestowal between them, between parts of the integral system of souls. IF people will truly value and respect this idea, method and practice, then every individual will want to take part in it, even if it does not benefit him personally. People will the aspire to shift from their egoistic state (Lo Lishma) to  the state of Lishma – absolute bestowal and love.

We can see examples of how this works in our world: if a person is considered great, then no matter how evil he is and how much people hate him (just think of Stalin or Hitler), he inspires and demands respect.

The same is true with the quality of bestowal. Even though you might hate it at first, if society will respect it and consider it important and necessary, then you will also begin to respect it and to desire it.

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The general purpose of the whole universe is for humanity to reach the state where all people will be as one family. Everyone will take others into consideration and will be a guarantor for everyone else.

One of the causes that will bring this about will be the pressure coming from Nature’s Upper Law that is being revealed now. It is the law of everyone’s universal connection and dependence on each other.

But this won’t be the only cause. It will also happen because when people reach the level of mutual bestowal, they will want to shift to the new type of relationships, those of “love for your neighbor.” People will desire this consciously, on their own.

Nature governs the still, vegetative, and animate levels and balances them so they stay in mutual harmony. This is why all things in Nature consume only what is necessary to sustain their lives. Man, however, has to reach the same mutual balance with Nature by means of a conscious participation. Man has to study the structure of the universe and its unity in order to become similar to Nature. He will then be truly worthy of being called “man” (Adam in Hebrew, originating from the word Dommeh – similar to the Creator).

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The world recently celebrated International Earth Day. Maybe people should organize an international day when they will attempt to hate, lie and use their children the same way they hate, deceive, and exploit others. This will help people realize how much they have to change, and at the same time, that it is impossible for them to change on their own.

Then, the strategies currently used by the G-20 leaders for coming out of the crisis will not be necessary anymore. People will stop attempting to carry out these plans because they will realize that they only worsen the situation. People will then understand that they are at a point of no return and they cannot come out of the situation using the old tactics. However, they also don’t have a new method to replace the old one.

If people will understand the reason for the current crisis, they will stop causing more suffering to themselves. That is to say, they will stop eliciting a negative reaction from Nature. But if people won’t realize that the cause of the world’s present condition is man’s egoistic nature, they will remain in this predicament.

Furthermore, people will have to realize  that they are unable to correct their nature, because the correction can only happen by using the Upper Force. Otherwise, as Baal HaSulam explains in Item 70 of “The Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” our suffering will get even worse.

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