In the News (from Japan Today): “Jewish human rights group protests ‘anti-Semitic’ ad in Nihon Keizai Shimbun” In a press release also posted on its website, the Wiesenthal Center’s associate dean Abraham Cooper blasted the Nihon Keizai Shimbun for having “broken a longstanding commitment to desist from running advertisements that promote anti-Jewish stereotypes, by running an advertisement for two books that promote the canard of Jewish control over the global economy.”

The advertisement for “Why did the Jewish financial system collapse?” (author: Kotaro Nada) asks rhetorically, “Is it true that the Rothschild family controls the global economy?” and purports to explain what was behind the failures of Lehman Brothers, AIG, Citibank and Bear Stearns. The ad also touts a second work by Nada titled “Jewish Money: Why are they able to continue to move the global economy?” The Nihon Keizai Shimbun boasts a claimed daily circulation of over 3 million copies. It is often compared to The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

My Answer: Of course the Jews are to blame for it all, because they don’t disseminate the method of the world’s correction to the world. This is how they cause all the miseries in the world, and not only the global financial crisis. See Items 70-71 of Baal HaSulam’s “Preface to the Book of Zohar.”

Even though the nations of the world don’t know this, they subconsciously feel that “it’s all the Jews’ fault.” After all, the “light” in their lives depends on the nation of Israel, which holds the wisdom of Kabbalah. Moreover, from now on, if the nations of the world won’t receive the method of correction in time, they will “join together against Jerusalem,” as stated in The Book of Zohar and in the books of the prophets.

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A question I received: There are pictures on your blog showing that you, too, enjoy life’s material pleasures. I really enjoy movies.

Does this mean that the spiritual goal isn’t important enough for me yet? I work to disseminate Kabbalah on the Internet and am learning to become an editor of Bnei Baruch’s materials. I always watch your morning lessons, and I devote a lot of time to the inner work. However, are my efforts enough, since I still find time to go to the movies once every week or so?

My Answer: Don’t restrict yourself in any way. Just study Kabbalah, and you will gradually change under the influence of the studies. For the time being, keep whatever previous pleasures you still enjoy, and just consider them your “little weakness.”

Asceticism, coercion and restriction run contrary to spiritual development! All the right inner changes occur in a person only under the influence of the Upper Light (Ohr Makif), according to the saying: “I created the evil inclination, and I created the Torah to correct it, because the Torah’s Light returns one to the Source.”

Through the study of Kabbalah, you initiate internal transformations, until you finally attain equivalence of form with the Creator. There is no other means to truly correct yourself. This is why Kabbalah is opposed to any sort of restrictions or any other means besides the studies.

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A question I received: In recent years, the Russian mass media has been extensively manipulating public opinion. Moreover, the influence brought about by the flow and density of this information exceeds people’s normal requirements as well as their ability to process and absorb it. This means that their perception is by definition distorted, wrong and unhealthy, regardless of the content. Would you care to comment on this?

My Answer: Only education and enlightenment can offset this. We have to act under the conditions we have, in the existing reality, without trying to destroy it. There is just one thing in reality that we have to correct – man.

Kabbalah’s view is the following: Let’s say we have a pill that we can drop into the city’s water supply, and when people drink the water, it will make them smarter, less prejudiced, and kinder. Well, even if we had this opportunity, we should by no means do this! What’s needed is a conscious correction in all regards.

Therefore, we should gradually help people feel the need to correct their qualities. A person needs to reach this realization on his or her own. It is because the entire reeking abyss of egoism has to be revealed first. It comes to us from Nature. Nature intentionally brings forth inner qualities in us that are opposite to spirituality, in order for us to realize that we need to ascend above this opposite state.

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I recently gave another public lecture at the Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education Center. The topic of this week’s lecture was Baal HaSulam’s article “A Speech for the Completion of the Zohar“.

These public lectures are held every Tuesday at 7:00pm Israel time and are broadcast live on our TV channel “YES-66” and on Kabbalah TV with simultaneous translation into English, Spanish, German, Italian, Turkish, and Russian.

[Show slideshow]

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A question I received: What must a person do if he wants to save himself in this world? Until now he only had to think of himself, but now he finds that he has to unite with others in action. Is it enough that his sole intention is his own salvation?

My Answer: Yes, it’s enough. A person’s starting point is the question: “What is the meaning of my life?” But when one asks this question, it is important to understand precisely what it means. Either he is doing bad from a material point of view: he was fired from work and he has all sorts of problems, illnesses and troubles. Or, he is feeling bad because despite having everything, he feels empty and nothing in life fulfills him; everything is meaningless and empty.

There are people who are just doing bad materially speaking, and this is the part of humanity that’s located at the lower part of the pyramid. They are only able to hear about how they can fill themselves in the material world. And then, there are people who feel bad not just because they are missing material pleasures. Even if they have everything, they feel as though they have nothing. The reason for this is that a new, non-material desire has awakened in them – the point in the heart.

When the point in the heart awakens in a person, it means that a new desire or quality arises inside him. This desire is what Kabbalah speaks of, explaining why you can no longer find happiness in this world. So, go ahead and reveal the Upper World. Come and see for yourself just how wondrous the Creator is. After all, you no longer have any other choice.

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In the News (from AFP): Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said in a speech to an international business forum that although the worst of the financial crisis was over, the world now faces a prolonged slowdown like Japan’s “lost decade” of the 1990s. “How do we get out? I think the technical answer is – God knows…” said Krugman, a professor of economics at Princeton University in the United States.

My Comment: Kabbalah is of the same opinion. Only it asserts that people can learn the answer directly from God!

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Two questions I received on obstacles along the spiritual path:

Question: What should a person who studies Kabbalah do at moments when he does not know what to do, but understands that he has to act, one way or another?

My Answer: It is written that a person should choose the manner of studying Kabbalah that is closest to him and that accords with his state and conditions. You can read, listen, watch, take notes on the material or edit it, write, disseminate, and so on.

Question: How can I ensure that the people not studying Kabbalah don’t influence and control me? Or should we consider their influence as given and as something that we cannot change?

My Answer: We cannot escape the influence of our environment; we are always in it. You can neutralize its influence internally if your thoughts are stronger and more complete. Then you will feel that your environment “helps” you through the obstacles it provides.

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A question I received: Why is it that people who have millions of dollars and have seemingly achieved tranquility and complete well-being, immediately seek the next million? Why is it that even subconsciously the question about the meaning of life doesn’t arise in these people?

My Answer: First of all, the question about the meaning of life isn’t at all related to how many millions you have. There are billions of people in this world who are not even remotely interested in knowing the reason behind their existence, although many of them are in very difficult circumstances. A person’s lifestyle has no bearing on whether or not the point in the heart has awakened in him or her.

Each one of us has his own purpose in this life. One person is born smart, and another stupid. Someone will become president and someone will sweep the streets. A person does not choose his profession, or his purpose in life, or whether he will be rich or poor.

The point in the heart awakens in a person the moment he begins to reveal the evil of his normal existence. This happens depending on one’s development. A person begins to understand that at some point he will die anyway, and all the millions he spent his whole life chasing were just there in order to service the society, which imposed its values on him.

If the society he is part of does not consider him a human being unless he has ten million dollars in his bank account, then this will definitely influence him. He will strive to do whatever his environment dictates to him.

And likewise, if someone travels to India and climbs a mountain to meditate, then he won’t need much more than his daily bowl of rice. This is how a person is influenced by his surrounding society. Regardless, in both cases, the point in the heart may be awakened.

This depends on a person’s function in the general system of souls. If his time to wake up has come, then it is due to the fact that he belongs to a subsystem that is now due to perform a correction in the system of souls. Thus, he will begin to ascend spiritually. His material or social status bears no relation to this.

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A question I received: What’s the meaning of the words “the evil inclination”?

My Answer: The evil inclination is your desire that you define as evil. In Hebrew, the word inclination – Yetzer, originates from the word Ratzon – desire. And it’s not just one desire, but many desires inside you that impede you from attaining the goal of creation, that appear as obstacles on your path.

The stumbling block on the path to the ultimate success is found within you; it’s not anything on the outside. However, you can’t destroy it or get rid of it on your own, despite the fact that you see how much trouble it causes you, how it ruins your life and stands in the way of your success! That is why this quality inside you is called your evil inclination.

The “evil inclination” is evil only when you have made every possible effort to get rid of it… and failed. You then reveal that it has the ultimate power over you and everything you do. It always cheats you, but you forget this and endlessly follow its advice. Thus, the evil is a desire that coerces you.

The recognition of evil is not an easy process. You have to become a true judge of yourself and not give in to being “bribed.” You have to clarify what is your goal, who you are, what your qualities are, and to understand what you have to eliminate within yourself. And then you have to make the utmost effort to do this. And finally, whatever qualities remain that you just can’t change is what you call your evil inclination.

If you do this, you will be prepared for the correction to come from Above, and then the Light will come and correct you. Only once you have done everything in your power can you truly realize what evil is. This, in turn, prepares you to turn to the Creator with a plea and to entreat Him: “I want to get rid of this evil once and for all – but I can’t!”

And that is when you reach the realization that it was Him beneath it all. Inside the evil inclination, you reveal the connection with the Creator, His will in all that has happened. All of the problems that you can’t cope with are sent to you intentionally by the Creator, in order for you to build a connection with Him, to turn to Him.

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In the News (from NewScientist): “Ten things we don’t understand about humans” We belong to a remarkably quirky species. Despite our best efforts, some of our strangest foibles still defy explanation: Blushing, Laughter, Teenagers, Dreams, Altruism, Art, Superstition, Kissing, Nose-picking.

My Comment: These peculiarities are mainly caused by the beginnings of an inner quality we have, which is opposite to our current, egoistic nature. This quality is bestowal and love for others, and it can only be developed under the influence of Kabbalah studies.

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