Question: From your spiritual height can you recommend to us what would be preferable to do for the sake of unity? The years are going by.

Answer: If you are always thinking about unity in order to discover the only force (the Creator) in it and feel pleasure within it that you summon through your actions, then there is nothing more that needs to be done.

If my thoughts are directed towards this, that in all of my actions in connection to others I discover the Creator in order to feel the pleasure that He feels, then with this I build a vessel (Kli) and summon its filling with the characteristic of bestowal and love, meaning the right state of these two objectives. There is nothing else in the world. We only need to be involved in this; there is no importance to anything else. Whatever you do, whatever you receive, you must aspire to this one goal.

In general there is no obligation to tune into this only in a group or a dissemination event. You can do this wherever you want.

As is written, (Deuteronomy 6:4-6:5) Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God; the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your might. Whether you are sitting or walking, going to sleep or waking up, are at home or outside of it, you must remember this.

The prayer, “Shema Israel” (“Hear, O Israel”) is the same mantra that determines the most essential intention in all a person’s activities. Therefore, it is considered to be the central prayer; even though nobody knows what it was written for.
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From the Conversation at Sochi Convention 6/9/14

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I need to organize myself in my inner work so that I will react in a correct manner to any condition that manifests in me. In order to do this, I need to get in touch with its cause—it comes from the Creator—and consequence: I must return this condition to Him. And in the middle, I correctly organize reception and bestowal. I accept “There is none else beside Him” and “everything comes for my own benefit,” and in the end, I bless everything that happens with my desire.

Instead of the “bittersweet” analysis, I use the “true-false” analysis, I relate whatever is happening to truth, and return it to the Creator with gratitude. This is called that I have corrected myself through the circle.

How is that possible? I discover in the process that I do not understand whatever is happening, and this is why I need to ask the Creator for the Light of understanding. Then I need to process this condition properly, meaning that I ask for strength. I also need to have a connection with the Creator in order to develop a proper attitude towards the event. It turns out that even after having received something from Him, I must constantly be connected with Him in my work. How am I to properly process the data otherwise?

After all, all I have is the desire to become like the Creator, connect with Him, and where is the work? This is the work, what else can there be besides it?

Of course, the group is also a part of it. Without the group I do not know how to approach that which I have received from the Creator. After all, I must approach the state I have received from the Creator with my vessel, called the vessel of bestowal, in order to process the state with my mind and feeling.

The group gives me the importance of the Creator, otherwise how am I to regard Him?

I receive the proper attitude towards both the Creator and my action from the group. This is our work.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/26/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Questions and Answers with Dr. Laitman

Workshop

Writings of Rabash “Shlavei HaSulam,” “What Is the Substance of Slander and Against Whom Is It?”

Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Unity of the Nation”

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In the News (from The Guardian): “Binyamin Netanyahu will push ahead with a rare change to Israel‘s basic laws – which amount to the country’s constitution – to insist Israel is ‘the nation state of one people only – the Jewish people – and of no other people.’

“At Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said the civil rights of minorities, including Arabs, would be guaranteed, and the move was vital at a time when aspects of Israel’s legitimacy were ‘under a constant and increasing assault from abroad and at home.’

“Netanyahu laid out his rationale for the change at the cabinet meeting, ‘The state of Israel is a Jewish and democratic state. Our basic laws give full expression to the democratic side of the state,’ he said. ‘On the other hand, that the state of Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people is not sufficiently expressed in our basic laws, and this is what the draft basic law is meant to provide.’

“’The state of Israel provides full equal rights, individual rights, to all its citizens, but it is the nation state of one people only – the Jewish people – and of no other people. And therefore, in order to bolster the status of the state of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, I intend to submit a basic law that will anchor this status.’”

My Comment: Israel is established as a nation by the constitution, i.e., not in a natural way, but by a special law of nature, by the law of correction and by the aspiration for the likeness to the Creator, the quality of bestowal and love, achieving “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

The condition of the constitution, i.e., the Torah is the basic rule of the Jewish people, based on which it was founded and created. It is the law given on Mount Sinai: “To be as one man with one heart,” to be in mutual guarantee, “Don’t do unto others what you don’t want others to do unto you,” and “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

We have existed since the moment of unity among the people under the leadership of Abraham, leaving Babylon due to following these rules and we will be able to exist as a people and state in the future only by observing these rules. Without fulfilling these rules, we are neither a people nor a state.

We are required to set an example in relation to all the nations of the world. This is the meaning and condition of our existence “To be the nation of priests and a holy nation,” to become a “light to the nations of the world.” We must begin to fulfill this condition now, in our time!
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Question: If the people of Israel are destined for oneness and an exalted goal, then why did the Jews kill an Arab teenager?

Answer: Because the people of Israel fell from the level of the First Temple and shattered. Its present condition is worse than that of the nations of the world. We still think that we are somehow better than others, that we are naturally more compassionate, and endowed with other noble intentions, that sometimes we show greater courtesy and help each other more compared to other nations.

This was particularly evident over the period of exile, when support and charity were vital for survival. That is all true. But, in fact, in this people are broken vessels, desires. Naturally, for the time being, they are still dormant, but they can awaken. In general, the Torah defines a simple approach to situations similar to the one we are experiencing today: you must stop your attacker before he kills you, but beyond that, all your other actions must aim only toward correction. And this correction manifests through unity according to the principle of “From the love for creatures to the love for the Creator”.

If somebody wants to kill us, we must address security issues and protect our lives even at the cost of the enemy’s life. But everything else, outside of defending ourselves (meaning, the corporeal correction), should be carried out by way of the spiritual correction.

As for killing an Arab teenager, such cases should be treated like any other similar crime. There is no place for leniency; people can’t do whatever they want. I say this in the context of the correction of the world: we have the right and must destroy anyone who has come to destroy us if there is no other option. But otherwise, we must employ only the power of our spiritual correction. And all of this is happening solely because we are lagging behind on this path. Only saving one’s individual life can be justified, because if I am dead, what corrections can I possibly make?

Question: So, what do we do in this particular situation?

Answer: As I have already said, we need to unite. There is nothing else we can do. We must unite tighter and tighter, until we become as one man with one heart. This means that we are not doing what we are supposed to do. All negativity coming from our neighbors and us are merely outcomes. We are the ones responsible for both.

In fact, there are quite a few people in our city who reject our true correction and believe only in the military solution to the problem. They would be happy to pay the Arabs back with their own coin. But I will argue that this is not our way. The very wish for that, even a thought or urge to do to them what they do to us is a flaw indicting that we have no connection with the true correction. It is not circulating in our blood yet, and we don’t understand that only the correct relationship between us will resolve the situation. And yet, when we come together, all heated emotions will subside not only in Israel but in the whole world.
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From the 6^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/14, lesson on the topic “Unity of the people”

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Question: When one hears the missile warning siren and runs for shelter, what is he supposed to be thinking at that moment?

Answer: That the Creator is reminding him about some kind of flaw, that there is something he hasn’t corrected yet, which he is supposed to have done. This is why it gets revealed through suffering and not by way of the Torah.

Question: And what should people living in other parts of the country be thinking, those who are not being under fire? After all, they are going about their lives as if nothing is happening, while in the south this leisurely life is over. How do I connect to those who are taking to shelters to the sounds of sirens and explosions?

Answer: I should be making every effort to use every opportunity to lead the people to unite. And while I am at it, I should be building intention for the situation to calm down so that we could all move forth toward the purpose of creation over this segment of the route, by following the path of the Torah and not by suffering.

And so every day, every moment, I switch the “toggle” onto the good path, to help the people in the south or (one step above it) to bring contentment to the Creator. Of course, you must stop the enemies with an army. We need peace right now, and we cannot obtain it without using force. And yet, we should be using this means only in order to get time for our correction.

A war will correct nothing. Today, the world is already aware that a war won’t bring prosperity. It is clear to everyone: force doesn’t resolve problems. Hence, we resort to military means only to stop the conflict from escalating and give ourselves time to do our primary job of unifying the nation.
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From the 6^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/08/14, lesson on the topic “Unity of the people”

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Question: What is the importance of the convention in New Jersey?

 Answer:  There is no importance in that it is precisely in New Jersey. That just happens to be the place where we have become used to holding conventions. We have already been there, so there we feel good and comfortable.

 However, in general, the convention in America is very important. It also accompanies my meetings with leaders of Jewish communities, organizations, and movements, which are also very important.

 Other than that, we know, feel, and hear about how the world is changing, and there is especially a great change in relation to Jews. Our role has become increasingly prominent and in demand. Let us hope that we will be able to come to this convention in a state where our friends and students will listen to us, including those English speakers who participate with us in all kinds of ways and levels from all around the world, and that we will be able to sweeten the development and try to bring it to a good path, as much as it is possible, from “in due time” to “I will hasten it.” This can be done only if that English-speaking Kli will accept this great mission. Every place in the world, at least in the English-speaking world, should try to do the same as what we do in Hebrew, in Israel.

 I very much hope that it will not end at the convention, but that we will keep working before and after the convention. Also, I very much hope that we will accept this important work that has now been cast upon us, which has befallen us, with a lot of importance, with awareness of how important and unique our role is, and especially that the American Kli will become like a pipe to the whole world. This is because their language, approach, and ability is truly unlimited, and we very much need it.

 I very much look forward to bringing a much broader public, which is not that connected to us, closer to us at the convention, that they will understand what we need to do, what the correct implementation of the wisdom of Kabbalah is. We have more work to do in this, and so I have great hope.

 I am very grateful to all the people who are engaged in the convention preparation. According to the importance they feel for the convention, I thus certainly expect it to be incredibly strong. It will be the last in a series of conventions that we will be holding in the American continent.

Therefore, I also very much hope that all our friends who can be in contact and support of it, not only from Israel, but from the whole world, will join in and support it, and we will turn the New Jersey Convention into a World Convention. 

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Question: Every day as I advance on the path, I feel myself further and further from the goal. Does this happen all the time or will it ever change?

Answer: We need to see exactly in what we become distant and in what way we advance. If it seems to me that the distance between me and the goal is greater than yesterday, so it seems that I have scrutinized better the difference between me and the goal, the characteristics, the desires, and everything.

It could be that from the point of view of understanding and attaining the goal, I have advanced. So specifically because of this, I see that the distance to the goal is greater than I thought before. Yesterday it seemed to me that the goal was closer because I was like a little child who naively thought that it was possible to attain it easily. But today I see that it is not so easy at all and that it is impossible to overcome in one leap.

It could be that the goal seems more distant to me, but I have changed my relationship towards it, and actually its being so far away helps me. So it is easier for me to understand that it is up to me not to search for how to reach it but how to reach a state of absolute bestowal, Hafetz Hesed (delighting in mercy). After all, the intention is not to grab or to capture the goal; rather, it is to acquire a completely different characteristic so that all of these distances will have no meaning.

I merit a characteristic with whose help I can be everywhere simultaneously, for this is the characteristic of bestowal, there is no Tzimtzum (restriction) on it and no distance. So when I see myself now more distant from the goal, this helps in making it possible for me to change the goal itself and understand what I must attain.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/20/14, The Zohar

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Question: We are conducting integral circles (connection workshops), but we don’t use external forms of information (such as publicity and marketing). This takes people out of the group because they don’t agree with the form of dissemination, even though they agree with the path. At this junction a problem is created: A person wants to express his needs, but doesn’t get feedback from the group.

Answer: Our form of dissemination changes all the time. If you ask me, I also don’t know in what form we will disseminate tomorrow, for this is not written anywhere. The wisdom of Kabbalah is purely a practical science.

A person by the name Adam suddenly discovered the system of the world 5,774 years ago. He found its mutual connections and the manner in which it is possible to enter into comprehensive integrality and attain it more and more deeply.

He, and others after him described this, and what they didn’t describe remains for us to discover and describe. You must enter the spiritual state through attaining the inner system of nature and describe the mutual connection between all of its parts.

Presently, we are in a stage about about which neither Adam nor Abraham nor anyone in the world has known or heard. It would seem we question who are we in comparison with those great scientists who discovered the depths of nature. However, what we are doing today was not under their control.

So, by ourselves from our experiences and advancing as if in a fog, we discover everything through the method of trial and error. We describe our steps each time, and after that, we cancel them and describe them again and again more correctly. This is how every science develops.

This is the true way and it is not necessary to suffer, to flee, and to be ashamed of it. I keep repeating in lessons that, in the meantime, I don’t know how to go in the right direction because this has not yet been in the world! There has not been a correction from the lowest point of our world where an entire group attains spirituality.

This happened once in the group of Rabbi Shimon and his students who wrote The Book of Zohar and then only in an embryo, a bud.

Only now in our condition, in the whole mess that is happening around us, we must begin to create and describe our method. So, I urge everyone all the time, “Write!” Don’t erase anything old, let others learn from your steps, how you went, how you erred, and you how discovered something again, and again corrected it.

We need to give people the wisdom of connection so that it will spread like wildfire, which is already happening. Our project is the largest. You must not be distracted by nonsense. We need to be involved with this where we continually magnify our work, our mission. Everything begins from this.
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From a conversation at the Sochi Convention 6/9/14

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