Question: Each of us lives his life with the typical hardships, successes, and disappointments. We would like to make our lives happier, but the question is how? Where do we get the feelings of warmth and security?

Answer: The answer is in our mother’s womb, then in her arms, and then in the warmth of our home and hearth. We gradually draw away from it, but our inclination to preserve these forms remains, although we want to be independent in our ego.

What is more, we see that our ego begins to soften with regard to the way it feels the community that we establish as we participate in the discussion circles. I look at what I can give up in the ego. I don’t really annul it, but it simply begins to help me incorporate more and more in the life of the community and to feel that I belong to a greater circle. Thus, our ego can function as “help against.”

When we developed only egoistically, we continually destroyed our community life. However, now, when we restore the community—at least in the form of a game—the ego that feels the pressure begins to help us. It isn’t annulled, but takes on a new form. This is called integral community education.

Let’s hope that we will be able to attain it. We thus balance the general global force of nature, and it connects humanity according to our inner inclination. When the two forces that influence us become harmoniously balanced, our life will become happy.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/8/14

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Question: Why do I need this game between the force of good and the force of evil? Wouldn’t it be better if there were only one force of good?

Answer: By this egoism, our whole lives are spoiled because it wants only one thing—to feel good. It does not understand that the force of evil should be used in the same way as the force of good, bringing them both into balance. It is uncomfortable for egoism.

Question: What do you mean by the balance between the good and evil forces? I want to be in harmony with the good, but how can one be in harmony with the evil?

Answer: There can be no harmony with either the good or evil. Harmony exists only between the two of them, in their connection and in equilibrium. Therefore, our life has to consist of good and evil; otherwise there is no life.

Comment: But imagine how it wonderful it would be in the world if there were only one force of good!

Answer: We must stop calling one force evil and another good. Good and evil are relative concepts. You label them in one way and I label them in the opposite way.

There are two opposing forces given to us by nature. What occurs between these two forces is called life, existence. Rocks, plants, animals, and humans exist because they are created by a combination of these two forces that mutually balance each other. This is nature.

We exist in this world in the animal body and therefore must maintain this balance, which nature makes any animal obey. In addition to the animal level, which we receive due to our human minds and feelings, we also need to bring it into balance in order to use it not on the animate degree, but as human beings.

The human degree implies a completely different balance between good and evil. As a human being, I have to relate to good and evil objectively and recognize their right to exist, deciding what can be between them. Thus, I form my worldview, understanding that I have to use both forces in their interaction, in balance and in correct mutual connection.

For me, there are no good and evil. Both these forces, combining with each other, produce my good state, that is more advanced, higher. Harmony between these two forces is turned into good for me. It is not one or the other but the connection between them.

Question: This is good and evil in their absolute forms, relative to our development. But would I, an ordinary person, perceive this development as good or not?

Answer: It depends on a person, his preparation, education, and perception of the world. A baby, until he grows to a certain age, does not understand anything and follows his desire just like an animal. He naturally chooses what he likes and dislikes.

Thus we have to limit him because from birth he is not an animal, but a little human. An animal has an inner program that allows it to correctly use all of its strength.

The animal would not fall from a height, would not eat something harmful to itself, would not hurt itself. But a baby can hurt himself, and that is why he needs to be supervised. From the very day of his birth, we must begin to educate him.

An animal does not require training. If a young animal is abandoned in the woods but there is food next to it, it will be able to survive. It will know what is good to eat and what is not, what should be avoided, and so it will continue to live. But a baby will not survive alone. At all times, we have to teach him what is good for him and what is bad, and how he should use all the things in order to grow.

He should not grow only physically, although he should be given an understanding of this process. When he grows up a little and learns how to live in this world and take care of his body, then he needs to be taught mentally, internally, psychologically.

An understanding of good and evil means that the child is able to use these two forces that are around him, inside him, and in others, constantly keeping his balance with the environment. In fact, life is a balance within and around us. A little human should be taught how to achieve inner balance and balance with the environment on the animate level, where our body exists, and also on the human level of society, in connection with other people.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 6/3/14

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Preparation for the Lesson

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Writings of Rabash, “Shlavei HaSulam,” “Purpose of Society”  

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Writings of Rabash, “Shlavei HaSulam,” Article 30

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The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, Item 86

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Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 6, Part 16, Item 77  

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Writings of Baal HaSulam “Exile and Redemption”  

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The Torah “Leviticus” (Kedoshim) 19:17: You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your fellow, but you shall not bear a sin on his account.

Man is built in such a way that it is pleasant for him to see bad attributes, sins, and transgressions in people, because it makes him feel above everyone else.

To the extent that others are lower than him, he sees himself rise higher without having to exert any efforts. It appears to you, as it seems, as an advantage in relation to others, but this advantage is false: You are wise because everyone around you becomes dumber. You have become smarter only in relation to the fools, but it still is pleasant for you.

In spiritual work, this approach is not correct. You need to determine your shortcomings, mistakes, and violations of others and accept them as yours. Because everything stems from the fact that you need to see the general soul before you, and thus, as you look at the crimes and the faults of the world, you should not enjoy them.

If you enjoy them, then egoism blinds you. In fact you can’t look at the world and always be happy that nothing good is happening in it.

The only thing that a person should be happy about is that, subconsciously, to the extent that he is able, he longs to actively discover the defects and bring them to correction; at best, to correct his attitude to what is happening, and most importantly, to justify the Creator who arranges all this for him so that he will constantly be happy for misfortune: “It’s so good that the Creator behaves so badly with others!”

This thought goes through us automatically. We shield the Creator, shield the entire world, and enjoy that we see how people quarrel between themselves. Only for this do we watch TV and listen to the news, in that, subconsciously, we are searching for how to be happy from the misfortune of others, since we feel satisfaction from that.

If God forbid, it happened to me or one of those close to me? Would I want to hear, for example, that the bank where I keep my savings blew up? But if that happens to some other bank, that’s fine.

That’s human nature. Thus the Torah shows different perspectives of the same issue of our beloved ego.

To the extent that you see some defect in the society, you have no right to stop without participating in the correction. Each one needs to feel himself as a sinner, a thief, a murderer. Each one of us needs to “dig” and “pull“ the judge from within himself without any connection to his sin.

A person is a small world. Thus in the different stages you need to be both an expert and a corrector, i.e., combine all the attributes within you: the Creator’s, the judge’s, the sinner and the sage. This means that you solved the problem. And so every time.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/2/14

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Torah, “Leviticus” (Kedoshim) 19:20: And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, designated for a man, and not at all redeemed, nor was freedom given her; there shall be inquisition; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.

The Torah speaks of desire (Malchut) that has not yet been corrected. The bestowing part (male) and receiving part (female) are interconnected in such a state where the desire is not yet free, and there is no restriction and no screen of its own. The male part is free and willing to work with this desire, although it is still uncorrected.

Therefore, the problem is not in the female part, but rather in the male, which starts working toward bestowal with yet uncorrected Malchut. This is wrong.

If the action has been done and it is revealed that the desire is not fully corrected, it is leading to a Cohen (priest) because both parts must rise above to the next level.

Torah, “Leviticus” (Kedoshim) 19:21-22: And he shall bring his forfeit unto the LORD, unto the door of the tent of meeting, even a ram for a guilt-offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt-offering before the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned; and he shall be forgiven for his sin which he hath sinned.

What was missing in the female part was Malchut. In order to properly connect to the first nine Sefirot and take all the Light in order to bestow, the male part must rise to the property of Bina.

Danger awaits a person at each stage of spiritual correction to commit misconduct, and one must conduct an internal search, analyze whether one properly can see for oneself with what desires one works, whether they are in a free state, and if one begins to get some fulfillment, will one not become a slave again? It is practically impossible to predict in advance.

Absolutely all cases that may occur are considered in the Torah. This is nothing to worry about because the correction always is happening at the next level, the third highest Partzuf. This means that the spiritual correction involves the male part, the female part, and the highest Partzuf, the Cohen.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/9/14

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Question: In today’s modern world, the greatest payoff for independence is loneliness. So how can I, on the one hand, keep my independence, and together with this gradually add elements to this life that will connect me with other people?

Answer: A person doesn’t have to give up anything in order to be included in the life of the community. On the one hand, this life is more developed, corrected, and warm, and on the other hand, you are included in it to the degree that you want, to the extent that is beneficial to you. You don’t give up anything in this.

As a general rule, we think that we need to give up our independence, our freedom, and our decisions. Come, let’s try to play with the life of the community, with agreement between us, with such a connection from a distance so that we reach a particular equality in all kinds of forms of connection. We open circles for children; we help each other mutually, and we disseminate new forms of learning in circles.

Come, let’s begin classes in organizations, workplaces, and various places where people meet, organizing meetings that look like a community, but external in the beginning. This could be a roundtable, a picnic, or a festival. Come, let’s begin to talk about the importance of such an approach to life.

With this, we begin to resemble the global nature that compresses and mixes humanity such that people are constantly moving from place to place, from nation to nation. It is no longer possible to say where the place of one group of people or another is to be found because borders have become blurred and cancelled.

Come, let’s start talking about this and clarify together how much a mutual connection of equality can be beneficial to a person as an addition to his life. In fact, we awaken in a person an additional form of thinking that doesn’t obligate anyone. It is just external participation. If we begin to work in this direction, then a person will almost immediately begin to feel additional benefit, so much so that it will be attractive to him, whereas the previous way of life will lose its value.

You want to keep your former life and add to it? Please! There is no compulsion! But gradually, thanks to this social influence, this softening, without pressure and obligation, changes will take place within you. It will also be felt in your children and your partner, and through this means of communication, everyone will begin to feel the benefit of this situation; in the meantime we are only playing, for after all all of us are egoists, and we aren’t even trying to hide this fact.

We only want to examine the validity of good connections and not the influence of the community on the life, wellbeing, the way of life at home, or anything else. Come, let’s try to feel its relevance to our region, city, and neighborhood in the relationships between us. It is not important what level of measurement we choose. With this we build a softer and more secure environment, reducing the tension in the air.

In the end, we see that growth in the general welfare of the population is worthwhile for us. In addition to this, the inner sensation of people becomes more pleasant, freer, and sweeter. Specifically a person wants this pleasantness, and specifically this is what everyone is missing, even the most independent and wealthy person.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/8/14

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Question: What kind of a schism was happening among the people of Israel in the time of the Maccabees, to which the holiday of Chanukah is connected?

Answer: This was a very difficult period. Our ego was growing all the time and we were compelled to overcome it. At the same time and in several stages, we didn’t succeed in overcoming our ego, and so the Greek sensation arrived. This was the sensation that it was not worthwhile to always manage this inner struggle and connect with the upper force, but rather it was possible to live a simple materialistic life, which is convenient for the body and is what is done by all the rest of the nations.

This is called the Greek approach. The Greek within a person says to him: “The main thing is physical life! We build nice houses, celebrate and enjoy life. Join us!”

The Greeks didn’t intend to enslave the people of Israel, they only wanted this formerly great and strong people to become like the rest of humanity. The Greeks were the whole of humanity in those times, its most advanced part.

But the moment that the Jews broke their connection, they caused all kinds of troubles for themselves, also including those that came from the Greeks. If we belong to the people of Israel, we cannot tear the connection between us and the connection with the higher power and begin to live like the Greeks. This is not possible for us and inevitably something will happen.

The world suddenly will feel that its inner energy, its inner Light, has become exhausted. This feeling will appear in all the nations of the world, not just in the people of Israel for everyone will stop receiving the unique power through it. So all kinds of problems and troubles will come, and the nations of the world will blame them on the people of Israel.

This will obligate the people of Israel to connect and unite again, to join together like sheep that are surrounded by wolves. The moment that we unite, the Upper Light will again begin to stream through us into the world and everything will calm down.

Everything will be calm, the pressure on Israel will disappear, the tension within Israel will decrease, and once again, controversies will again return. We will again stop being concerned about our connection and unity, will separate and invite a new wave of troubles.

That is how these waves come one after the other. We are united and connected for a particular period, we do good things for ourselves and the whole world. But after that, we drift apart from each other again, which will be bad both for us and for the rest of the world. And so the disgruntled world comes to us and adds to our suffering, forcing us once again to connect.

We complain that history has repeated itself for the entire length of our way, for all of these thousands of years and throughout the generations. But, the reason for this lies hidden within ourselves. War flares up because of a clash between the two approaches: the former approach of the people of Israel and the approach of the rest of the peoples represented by the Greeks in the story of Chanukah.

When this Greek approach penetrates the people of Israel, it creates a schism. This is the same situation we are found in today! Apparently the people of Israel are in the land of Israel, but they are not a nation because if connection doesn’t exist between us, we are simply a bunch of exiles, an ingathering of exiles.

So it is not just that we cannot bring the Light to ourselves, which is the inner energy, the security, the health, the Light, through which everything in our lives is determined. Rather, we also don’t move this Light through us to the world in order to illuminate the rest of humanity.

Today we don’t have power because there is no unity between us. And so we cannot attract the Light to ourselves or disseminate it to the whole world through us. That Light that we must distribute to other peoples is not within us, so they blame us for all their troubles and disasters.

All the sufferings that they experience are derived from that same feeling that they must get something good from the people of Israel but are not receiving it. It is necessary to hear what they are saying. There are no people in the world that will not come with accusations against the people of Israel, from the nations in Latin America to Japan, from Australia to Iceland. And we see how forcefully they make this demand. And the worse it gets in the world, the stronger these demands will be towards Israel.
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From the program “A New Life” 12/11/14

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Question: For me, the “Melodies of the Upper Worlds” is a unique series. The inimitable spiritual experience that a person feels when performing this music can be compared to a rainbow, which is singular, but at the same time produces a variety of different colors and leaves a very wide range of emotions, musical impressions and experiences.

What is this music? How does it become integrated into the world and with the general spiritual attainment of a person?

Answer: Music fills the whole world. On the face of the globe there is no place in which a person doesn’t express himself with some kind of sound. Even animals sing, hum, and echo in different voices, expressing happiness, bitterness, fear, and suffering. And all of this is music, an expression of inner emotions.

The world is full of melody. Even when you look at the sky, the stars, and the universe, you feel that they are filled with harmony. And music is harmony.

In our world there are many kinds of musical styles and various expressions of music. People from all nations in the world and throughout all historical periods have used a variety of musical forms or particular types of external conventions of communication that express their inner emotions.

But besides the usual earthly music that composers throughout all times and societies have created, there is spiritual music which a person experiences when he is speaking not about earthly happiness and suffering, but about emotions that he feels on attaining the upper world, the higher power, the Creator. Throughout human history we have had unique spiritual teachers who marched alongside humanity, but in parallel to it or above it. They used their own methods of expression of spiritual understanding when the true soul sings. The soul doesn’t include our earthly experiences, but the experiences of the discovery of the higher state, the upper world. There have not been many people like these in every generation.

Left to us are some sketches and memories of them. But we don’t know what musical instrument King David used. Was it a stringed instrument, a flute, or possibly an instrument similar to a violin? Even though we read Psalms, we cannot sing the songs as he did.

The written words don’t give us a clear sensation or understanding of how to perform them. At the same time, for example, in the Torah, above and below the letters are clear signs, the marks of cantillation, that give us an understanding of how to sing the text of the Torah.

And if the person is advanced in his spiritual attainment, meaning in the feeling of the controlling system in our world, how he enters into it, feels, understands, and adapts himself to it, he begins to cooperate with it. And he then begins a conscious emotional and intellectual dialog here.

That is, that attainment is carried out on two levels in the heart and mind. Between them are created unique and interesting transitions with a predominance of emotions or with a predominance of the intellect. And yet the music is derived either from emotion or from intellect. In other words, the music of the soul and its general feeling is born as a result of good harmonious relationships between the emotions and the mind. That is what is amazing about attaining the upper world.

When a sage enters into the spiritual world, he begins to feel a higher harmony that cannot be described in words because completely different feelings and a multileveled mind are produced within him. Contradictions merge and approach each other, and unity is extended instead.

So our earthly musical means cannot contain the volume and intensity that a sage feels upon attaining the upper world. No orchestra nor organ will help here, since after all, the idea is not about the instruments that carry what a Kabbalist feels on attainment of the upper world, rather he is also in an audience, which is said to be ready in some form to understand what is conveyed to him.

For example, those who attend  symphonic concerts are not people from the street, or those who are outside playing dominoes. A particular audience goes to these concerts, knows about musical culture, and by way of the musical sounds, aspires to feel particular levels of our world, life and death and everything in between them and what fills them. That is also how it is here.

It is necessary to prepare an audience to grasp spiritual music. This is so that people will begin to hear something higher within those sounds, greater than what the human ear usually can grasp. If we prepare people, they will begin to discern the sounds of the upper worlds hidden in these melodies as if they are heard within them, clothed within them and which are revealed only to people who can hear them and understand about what they are speaking.

The exceptionally unique characteristic of spiritual music is that it attracts the listener itself, and he then begins to aspire to it, be interested in its inner content, and tries to understand the inner layer of emotional and intellectual information that it contains. It is possible to play it before an entire audience and it will itself attract them. When the time comes, it will be possible to give a short course to help people to discover the inner layer that exists in these works.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 2/09/14

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