“The Magician” Ballet Premier in Croatia

A report from our friends in Croatia: “600 people attended the premiere of a staged ballet performance, the “The Magician,” based on Rav Michael Laitman’s book, Together Forever. We are grateful for the support of the entire world Kli. The success was unprecedented even in the face of all the obstacles. All of you were with us, you filled our hearts and lit them up with flames of love, and it was felt by the performers and the audience alike. We sensed the quiet yet powerful strength of the friends of the world Kli. It is impossible to put all your love and support into words. A few magazine and TV journalists were present and the praise from the audience exceeded all expectations.”

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The Puzzle With 7 Billion Pieces

connectA question I received: Why is it that many people are ignoring the crisis? What is the spiritual root behind this denial?

My Answer: Clearly, those who have an interest in concealing what is happening are doing everything possible to mask the obvious. This is happening because they are afraid of the consequences, since no government is able to offer any realistic solutions, and there is a possibility of civil disturbances due to their inability to act.

This is why, at the end of the day, everything depends on the dissemination of Kabbalah, which is the method for the correction of man. Our success lies in awakening people to the realization that the crisis is not coincidental, that its purpose is to correct the connection between us, and that only by bringing the purpose to its fruition will the crisis end.

Today, for the first time in history, the general system of souls is being revealed in our world. Indeed, the current state of the world is not simply a crisis; it is a revelation of the connection between us. All human suffering is caused by the fact that this absolute and permanent connection among us is hampered by our egoism. Therefore, we have no other means of getting rid of our suffering other than by correcting this connection and gluing the pieces of the broken vessel back together.

But people must understand that no force exists in this world that is capable of bringing us closer and correcting our egoism. We reside within our egoism and we cannot come out of it by pulling ourselves up by our own hair. We are obliged to find the external force, which can convert our egoism to its opposite – the qualities of love and bestowal.

This correcting force and the Higher force that created egoism are one and the same. It is the same force that must correct egoism. Only the science of Kabbalah makes it possible for us to attract this Higher correcting force towards ourselves.

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There Is More To This Question Than We Think

psychiatry-and-kabbalahA question I received: Can you please explain the question “What is the meaning of life?”

My Answer: The question “What is the meaning of my life?” can be answered on the level of our world by “With what am I filling myself?” Or on the level of the spiritual world, the question is addressed by asking, “Whom am I pleasing?”  “What should I do with my life?”  “Where should I go?”

I have to unravel the mystery of the “meaning of life.” These related questions deal with the source of life:  “What do we live for?”  “Why do we live?” “What is the secret of life?”  “How and why did life appear?”  However, questioning “the meaning of life” isn’t necessarily a question about the origins of life, it’s more of an inquiry about why this all happened and where it is leading me. The question “What is the meaning of life?” deals with all the unanswered questions of my entire life.

Humanity is now asking this question. However, how profound or purposeful is the question that is actually being asked? For example, if a person has a mishap in his life or feels even the slightest dissatisfaction, he may ask, “What is the meaning of my life?”

The answer is revealed only after that question has been examined and toiled upon by hard labor and exertion and which is precisely directed toward the goal.

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Education Must Instill The Desire For Discovery

reading-bookHumanity has been developing its educational system for thousands of years, and it consists of two parts:

  • Education (mind, intellect, brain): a child is taught his future profession, since he can’t get along in life without it.
  • Upbringing (senses, heart): in absence of a process that shapes a child into a human being, education has the potential to do harm rather than good.

Even while learning a profession, a child should not be given ready-made explanations, formulas, solutions or anything in that matter.  He should not receive anything in its final form.  First, he needs to discuss, test and analyze the subject to eventually reveal the truth on his own, feeling the thrill of discovery. Such an approach inspires him; he is independently reaching the conclusions that the teacher wanted him to reach.

Studying Torah has always been in the form of discussions and allowed an exchange of opinions. A student is intentionally confused, being dragged into researching a task. That makes him search for the solution, honing his independent arguments. Eventually, in the process of his development, he masters the problem, while he’s “opened the book” for himself and thus understands what is written in it.

A book needs to obligate a child to develop. He needs to discover the formula following the steps of the discoverer. One must attain knowledge, not be given it, such as occurs in mainstream education.

In that sense, the Talmud serves as an excellent example of a true text book. After all, we study it to develop and not to memorize data.

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The Internet Should Not Replace Our Interpersonal Connections

rav-on-computerIn the news (from USC Annenberg):Family time decreasing with Internet use” More and more of America’s Internet-connected households report erosion of face-to-face family time, increased feelings of being ignored by family members using the Web… By 2008, shared time had dropped by more than 30 percent, to 17.9 hours. Reports of feeling ignored, at least sometimes, by family members using the Internet grew by 40 percent over the same period.

My Comment: This is not something to look forward to!  Our egoism is forcing us to move away from one another and to forget about ourselves and others by immersing ourselves in the TV and the Internet.  In the space where our desires ought to be fulfilled, we feel emptiness – that is why we are distanced from others and ourselves. When one is on an incorrect course, there are two methods to discern the error and make the necessary adjustments to reach the goal:

1) Accelerate the speed in the wrong direction! In so doing one gains some time by recognizing the error of one’s course, since the time spent moving in the wrong direction is filled with suffering.

2) Instead of moving in the wrong direction, delve into the study of the process that is controlling us. In doing so, one will be able to recognize its evil, instead of revealing its wickedness personally, through corporeal suffering. This action greatly reduces not only the time spent on the wrong path, but also the amount, level and magnitude of suffering, by transforming the corporeal and emotional suffering to the suffering of love.

In this way, we move from suffering over our own miserable state and the fact that we’re feeling pain, to suffering over the absence of eternity and perfection that we have not yet attained. Therefore, the second method is preferable!

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