The nation of Israel originated in Babylon, where Abraham revealed nature’s Upper Force and then started to disseminate this knowledge about the Creator, the goal of creation, and the purpose of man and society. It was all done to enable us to ascend above our world, rather than be like all the animals that merely live and die, over and over again.

Abraham discovered how to ascend above this world and the life cycles of the mortal animate body. He attained the Upper, spiritual dimension, which is above this entire animate life. Abraham then began to disseminate this knowledge to all the inhabitants of Babylon, gathering thousands of people around himself. The group that he gathered came to be called “the house of Abraham.”

This group went through a lengthy path and grew until it came to be called “the nation of Israel.” This is not a regular nation like the other nations of the world that unite in a natural manner. “The nation of Israel” can be joined by every person who aspires to unity in order to reveal the Creator – the force of bestowal and love.

Therefore, this group (or nation) can be in one of two states: exile, which is when they want to unite, but they haven’t yet attained it; and redemption, which is when they attain unity. They then attain the state of being as one man with one heart through a mutual guarantee (Arvut). Thus, they reveal the Creator within themselves (in Hebrew the Creator is called Boreh, which comes from the words Bo – come and Reh – reveal). They proceed to ascend up the ladder, reaching greater and greater unity and attaining greater bestowal until reaching the Final Correction of the ego, transforming it to love for the neighbor. This is the state of adhesion, Dvekut.

Eventually, all of humanity will have to join this group and join the Creator together with them. Today we have already gone through four exiles and three redemptions. We are now standing before the final redemption, meaning the final, full revelation of the Creator to every single person in the world.

From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/11/10, “Exile and Redemption”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: On The Threshold Of Final Redemption
Laitman.com Post: Inheritance Of The Land Of Israel
Rambam (Maimonides): "Abraham’s Revelation of the Creator"

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →

As Baal HaSulam states, the whole world is one family. Hence the on-line system that we want to create must work on each person like a Kabbalistic group that helps him build new connections and new attitudes about himself, his friends, and the world at large.

We would like to lay the foundation of this structure on the Internet so that we all connect in one system regardless of user language, location, or any other factors whatsoever. It should be an independent self-driven structure that helps all of us advance spiritually.

In other words, we need to create an artificial system of spiritual connections among us, which is identical to the union that exists between our souls. Kabbalists advise us to join a group and begin to build relationships with it as if you were already in spirituality.

From A Talk about a New Internet 4/4/10

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: A Different Formula For Happiness
Laitman.com Post: The Machsom Is The Critical Landmark Of Life
Laitman.com Post: Language Is A Program Of Human Connection

Filed under: Internet, Kabbalah Dissemination - No Comments →

Preparation to the Lesson, Shamati #89“To Understand the Words of the Holy Zohar”
The revelation of the Creator is the revelation of the qualities of love and bestowal in a person.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 6
With the help of the Light or the Force that created me, I can rise to a new degree of development.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Beit Shaar HaKavanot, Item 70, Lesson 22
The desire to bestow is such a “pure” desire, that it can be clothed with the intention to bestow. It does not attract Light; it annuls itself before the Upper.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Article, “Exile and Redemption,” Lesson 3
The connection to the Creator is measured not by my closeness to Him but by the extent of my demand for an ascent, which comes from the depth of my egoism.
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

Our entire difficulty lies in the fact that we exist in a world of matter, and from this we need to reveal the spiritual world. In order to reveal it, we need to come prepared with a desire, a vessel which already consists of the two lines together so that they can be united into a middle line, for it is precisely the middle line that expresses our extent of similarity to the Light.

Without the two lines, the left and the right, it is impossible to unite them together in harmony and to build a quality of the Light between them. Neither the right nor the left line has the quality of the Light – it should come from me, so that “darkness would shine like the Light” – the will to receive should become similar to the Light!

Therefore, even “self-rejection,” when I enter the state of a spiritual embryo, the smallest spiritual degree, already occurs in connection of these two lines, which affect me in harmony and connection between them.

Never on our spiritual path will we be able to feel the Creator anywhere else but in the middle line. I am thrown into other states, but in that case I tear away from the Creator. I can feel Him only if I am situated in the middle line, by forming it in me. This is like balancing the vertical needle of a scale. A “scale” (Moznaim) comes from the word “ear” (Awzen), hearing, Bina.

I must be on this vertical, middle line – only there do I feel Him. This is the line of Zeir Anpin, the Creator. And if I shift even slightly to the side, He vanishes!

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/9/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: When Peace Sets In
Laitman.com Post: Spirituality Is The Middle Line
Laitman.com Post: Building The Middle Line

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYaera (And The Lord Appeared),” Item 496
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Filed under: Zohar - No Comments →

At every given instant we are sent different states (desires and thoughts) from Above. At all times, we need to search for ways to maintain ourselves in harmony with nature, in revelation with the Creator, to reveal the quality of bestowal in us. In this manner, we begin to cultivate ourselves.

This is exactly how children grow in our world. A child constantly looks for ways to learn about the world. A child looks for qualities and connections, how he can relate to the world, and how he can take part in it.

We need to do the same thing with the desires and thoughts inside us. We need to understand what kind of forces influence us, how to react to them properly, and how to reveal their Source. The Source is revealed in the aspiration to identify it in everything in the world, as “There is none else beside Him” and He is good that does good.

Like in our world where a child cannot grow up if he does not follow a grown-up’s example, we too cannot grow up in the spiritual world unless we find our Teacher, the Creator. This search continues at every instant, as we learn the force of bestowal from Him.

We try to set an example for our children so that they will copy us; the Creator acts the same way in regard to us (within us) in the spiritual world. He shows us examples of how to reach bestowal, Lishma, from egoism, Lo Lishma. Therefore, we need to examine His examples and become similar to them in order to raise ourselves through faith above reason every time.

We need to acquire a new, higher mind, a new quality of bestowal in order to be able to understand Him. Then we will see that in every moment, we are being taught how to bestow. In other words, I am receiving examples from Him of how I need to correct myself, and through them, is how I ascend from one degree to the next.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/9/10, Shamati 22

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Upper Level Teaches Us Through Examples Like A Parent
Laitman.com Post: How To Pass Through The Eye Of A Needle (Advanced)
Shamati #1: “There is None Else Beside Him”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spirituality - No Comments →

If a person ascends above himself and begins to feel that unification with others is more important to him than what is happening in him, then to this extent he comes closer and closer to the Upper Force. In this manner he reaches the quality of bestowal, Lishma. In this quality of bestowal he begins to feel the Upper reality. It is as though a light turns on before him and in this light, he begins to see what is ahead.

It is like he was roaming around a dark field, without seeing or understanding anything, and suddenly he acquires the quality of bestowal, which turns on the Light, and he begins to see in what reality and in what world he exists! All this is due to the fact that he had properly implemented all the exercises that the Creator had given him. In these exercises he preferred to come out of himself in order to connect internally and spiritually to his environment, instead of closing up inside himself.

In this manner, a person acquires the quality of bestowal instead of the quality of reception, and in this quality, in the Light of Love (Hassadim), he turns on the Light and sees the true reality. However, now we see only ourselves. It is written in The Zohar that our eyes are turned inward and we do not see what is happening on the outside. This is how all our senses work. Therefore, we do not see the true reality.

The whole Torah is meant to reveal this external, spiritual world to us and to lead us into it to live actively in it! This is called the Torah Lishma, which is studied in order to reach the quality of bestowal, faith above reason (knowledge). Faith is Bina, and “above knowledge” means above Malchut. When Bina reigns above Malchut (faith above reason), and Malchut adjoins it, then, in this form, we can reveal the Upper reality.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/9/10, Shamati 22

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Revealing Our True State
Laitman.com Post: Bright Future Depends On Us
Shamati #20: “LISHMA (for Her Name)”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Perception - 1 Comment →

The Zohar. Chapter “VaYaera (And the Lord Appeared),” Item 424. …The fruit of the actions of the Creator is from that river that stretches out of Eden, meaning ZA and the souls of the righteous. In other words, its deed is the souls of the righteous. And this is the fortune from which all good blessings and timely rains pour out, as it is written, “To water the garden.” It trickles and waters from above downwards because sons depend on this fortune and on no other place….

All our degrees of ascension and correction depend on “fortune” (Mazal) – the Lights that come from above “in drops,” one after another, and seep through the beard of Arich Anpin from his head. And since they come in intervals, we have an opportunity to correct ourselves.

Corrections occur to us step by step, time after time, due to the fact that the Upper Light comes to us in small portions, since a person is incapable of freeing himself from his egoism immediately, in one leap. This is impossible, since egoism is our whole nature!

Therefore, heaviness of the heart comes to us, we overcome it, then it comes again, and we overcome it again, and so on; “drop by drop” we receive correction. All this is due to the revelation of the drops of the Light of Hochma, which are delivered to us by the stream (Zeir Anpin) that flows out of Eden (Bina) and irrigates our souls.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Costly Forgetfulness
Laitman.com Post: Reaching The Right Request
Shamati #72: “Confidence Is the Clothing for the Light”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spirituality, Zohar - No Comments →

A question I received: Since the end of the Passover holiday, I feel horrible from the realization of my own evil. How do I deal with this? What should I do?

My Answer: We need to get acquainted with our nature. A person has worked hard during the holidays; he put in effort, aspiring to reveal the Creator in himself, to come out of egoism, and now the darkness of an even greater egoism has been slightly revealed to him. This causes him to feel weakness, fatigue, and a lack of interest for the Upper World…What should one do?

One should rejoice in the fact that a bit more evil has been revealed and that one has an opportunity to “clench his teeth” and turn to the group, the studies, and to the Creator. The opportunity is precisely now, when one has no strength, no desire, is not in the mood, when his eyes are closing, his brain doesn’t work, and all his feelings are foggy. This is wonderful! This is precisely the kind of state that a “Creator’s worker” should experience, since then one can ask for mercy, for strength from Above.

This doesn’t mean crying and pleading to the Creator to have mercy on you. In fact, this will not help. We are situated in a system where everything is precisely measured out, and we are given sensations, thoughts, strengths, and weaknesses, which are necessary for us at any given moment.

Now, I need to gather all of them into one and realize that it’s the hardening of the heart, about which it is written “I have hardened his heart.” The Creator took me by the hand, led me to Pharaoh (which is my heart) and He is showing me how much He hardened it.

Now the choice is mine: Will I be with Moses (the point in the heart) or with Pharaoh (the heart)? If you moan and groan, saying “I am tired, I cannot go on, I am sick of everything…” this means that you are under the control of Pharaoh, you are his slave.

However, if you grab onto the Creator’s hand (since He offered: “Let’s go to Pharaoh!” meaning that the Creator is next to you, and you merely need to recognize Him), then you have the strength to oppose Pharaoh.

Try to grab onto the Creator! Try it, and suddenly you will see how close the Creator is to you. After all, it is written “The Creator is near broken hearts.”

From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The First Stage Of The Spiritual Path
Laitman.com Post: Walking Through The Dark Cellar With The Light Of A Candle
Laitman.com Post: Revealing The Creator’s Greatness

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - 1 Comment →

A question I received: What specifically should I do when I feel a “hardening of the heart“?

My Answer: Without extra emotions, try to clarify this state: Who does this, why, how does He control you and organize your environment? Don’t fall; try to be in control of the situation that you are in so that you are able to create a point of contact with the Creator. Also, as the Creator told you, “Let’s go to Pharaoh because I hardened his heart,” now you may demand from Him. Now is precisely that moment when you may demand help from Him. After all, this is why He brought you to Pharaoh.

The Creator will never answer you while you are in a state where you feel well and everything around you is illuminated. You will not receive anything in such states! After all, while you are in such states you do not need Him. You can thank the Creator for His kindness, but all this is just complete egoism.

When will the Creator hear you? He will hear you precisely during your bad states (the Gate of Tears, Shaar Hadmaot). Otherwise, at present, why does He exist and why did He bring you to such a state? Only in such states do you really need Him! They are all given to you only in order for you to grab onto the Creator’s hand. You are small, and you stand beside Him and say, “Did you harden his heart? Now help me! I am scared! I don’t want this! I don’t know what to do! Have pity on me!”

And what does the Creator say? He says, “I hardened his heart because I wish to be revealed to you. I want you to see My greatness. I will become great through Pharaoh!” The Creator can be great in your eyes only under the condition that you are afraid of your ego, Pharaoh. You don’t know what to do with it and you are subjugated by it. Then, if the Creator can rescue you from this state, you will begin to respect and value His power and greatness. In this manner, we learn who the Creator is.

Pharaoh gives us the measure of the Creator’s greatness and power. For example, Pharaoh weighed you down with a weight of 20 lbs. and the Creator released you from it. Then you evaluate the Creator’s strength to be 20 lbs. directly against Pharaoh. After all, the Creator, the Light, has no form. Your desire (Kli) gives Him form. This is how you advance. Therefore, only such states are positive.
[12402]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/10, The Zohar

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Gate Of Tears Is A Joyful Prayer
Laitman.com Post: You Only Need To Desire
Shamati #2: “Divinity In Exile” – Lesson

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Suffering, Zohar - 2 Comments →