Audio Version Of The Blog – 02.05.14

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Before Making A Choice

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Torah, “Exodus (Ki Tissa),” 32:9-32:10: And the Lord said to Moses: “I have seen this people and behold! They are a stiff necked people. Now leave Me alone, and my anger will be kindled against them so I will annihilate them, and I will you into a great nation.”

It refers to the fact that Moses actually ascended to the height of the Creator, but in order to place him on a level of full equivalence of form with Him, the Creator wants to make him into a nation, which means to add such desires to him that will form in him the image of Adam (a human being) that resembles the Creator, is in adhesion with Him.

At the same time, the rest of creation is preserved, which means that it remains on the level of the still, vegetative, and animate nature, while the speaking level of nature that is fulfilled on the level of Moses ascends upward.

Why does Moses object to the Creator and plead that He will not destroy the people? Doesn’t he cherish his own attributes that are similar to the Creator’s? Doesn’t he prefer the state of adhesion with Him? He is about to undergo corrections, the changing of new values, to descend into Egypt, into impurity, into the ego that is totally opposite to his own attributes. What is he attracted to there? He discovers eternity.

The fact that his love of the Creator can only be through the love of others is revealed here. It is impossible to express it any other way. The Creator tests Moses by telling him, “If I make you into a nation, you will receive everything in the state of your smallness. You can discover your great potential only if you agree to take on this hard labor. Take all the egoistic desires, correct them, purify them, and raise them to me. Make a choice!”
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 9/9/13

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Reach The Age Of “Bar Mitzvah”

Dr. Michael LaitmanRight now we need to clarify which problems must actually be solved before and during the convention. Otherwise this will not be called a “convention,” a convening, a connection.

Question: It is understandable that we need to feel happy about connection. But must we also be afraid of not attaining a connection?

Answer: There is a particular age below which the child is exempt from commandments (Mitzvot) because he is small. After that we begin to educate him and say to him what he is allowed to eat and what he is forbidden to eat, or that one can do something this way and is not allowed to do it that way.

The first commandment is called “fear” in the presence of the Creator. I am afraid of whether or not I will be able to give Him contentment, will this action make Him happier, what will make Him less happy? For this, I must reach an age of maturity, “Bar Mitzvah,” meaning a level when a person is aware that he is responsible for his thoughts, intentions, and deeds of correction. A “Mitzvah” is correction. The question is, have we reached this age?

If we were already like this today, we will feel the fear, the apprehension: “Friends, the goal before us is to give contentment to the Creator! If we don’t do this, it will be very bad.” This will be very bad not for ourselves, but bad for another, for others; otherwise, this is not called a “Mitzvah” if I am thinking about myself. But if we succeed in giving contentment to the Creator, this will be good for the entire world! What will be with us doesn’t matter to us.

This means that we must make many preliminary corrections before we reach realization of this first commandment of fear, of apprehension, of the thought, “Am I giving contentment to the Creator or not?” It’s forbidden for you to get some kind of benefit from this in return for this will no longer be a commandment, this will not be bestowal, this will not be giving contentment to the Creator. It’s possible to bring contentment to the Creator only if there is no self-interest, if one is making Him happy without considering personal loss or gain. We must still rise to this level by making a restriction on our ego so that the result will not be considered in relation to ourselves.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/27/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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White Nights In The Desert

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe should feel that we are in the desert and that we will remain in the desert, in desolation, in emptiness, if we don’t reach the state in which we can delight the Creator. We will only have the idea that we did it, that we are trying to do it, and that we are getting close to it. Then, there is a higher level, and we don’t want to know it since the exertion itself, delighting the Creator, is our reward.

The emptiness that is created between us always will be the place that the Creator must fill according to our state. The higher we ascend the spiritual ladder, this emptiness will take on a new form, a new essence, a new identity, until finally we will reach a state in which we will ask for nothing except for the opportunity to make an effort in total darkness. This darkness becomes a place full of Light for us.

It is said:.”Darkness will illuminate as Light.” But how can that be? After all, it remains darkness! For us, it isn’t darkness anymore. If we bring the Light of Hassadim (Mercy) into it, our impulse to bestow, the darkness turns into Light and night turns into day.

If we turn ourselves into a vessel that can work only in order to serve all of creation, this vessel becomes a conductor of the Light. We actually are ready for this transition which is a totally new phenomenon that never existed before. Therefore, we can reach the right action by our mutual effort. Our action isn’t in feeling and understanding the Creator but rather in discovering the right deficiency. This is the only thing that is required of us.

When we have the right deficiency, we immediately will discover that we are already on a certain spiritual level. Even now, we are already in the world of Ein Sof (Infinity), but we discover only part of it according to our deficiency and one day, we discover all of it.
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From the Preparation for the World Zohar Week 2014 1/29/14

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World Zohar Week “World Zohar Convention,” Day One – 02.05.14

World Zohar Convention, Day One, Lesson 1

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World Zohar Convention, Day One, Workshop 1

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World Zohar Convention, Day One, Lesson 2

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World Zohar Convention, Day One, Workshop 2

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World Zohar Convention, Day One, Lesson 3

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