Audio Version Of The Blog – 01.18.15

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Kings And Jokers

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In my environment, it is customary to tell jokes in order to create a relaxed atmosphere. But what should I do if by nature I don’t like jokes?

Answer: Jokes promote mutual incorporation with each other. Only they must be clever jokes, full of subtle humor.

For example, in the court of every king  there was a joker. He was even allowed to do whatever he pleased, even to mock the king. Anyone else would have had his head cut off for doing so, but not the joker. Although the kings were very serious, determined men, they still kept a joker by their side. Why did they need a joker?

The point is that people who were crowned to be kings were above everyone else around them. So who could influence them? In those days, it was actually the joker who could raise the king’s spirits and thus help him deal with many problems.

If something unpleasant happened or there were certain troubles, the joker would begin to entertain the king and the king would relax and begin to think differently about what was going on. These are very deep and important points.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/21/14

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The Time Has Come To Pack Their Bags

laitman_930Question: The Jews in France were shocked by the latest terrorist attacks. Some of them would like to emigrate to Israel, but they are afraid that our solidarity is enough only to bring them here. In this situation, what can we say to them, how should we advise them?

Answer: As far as I understand, they are faced with a choice: either to stay or go to Quebec, where the French language is the official language, or to move to Israel. A few will emigrate to the United States.

Certainly I cannot make a decision for them. I am very familiar with Montreal, the largest French-speaking city outside of France. Whatever city it may be, this is still exile. But the Jews in France are used to it, and in the meantime this is a comfortable and suitable place for them.

If Israel opens its arms wide towards them and opens its heart, it could be that would be worthwhile to come here. The question is, are we ready to organize workplaces for them and generally absorb them properly. Without a doubt, we have a lot to correct to truly become an attractive place for the Jews of the Diaspora.

One way or another, I hope that they will understand that the time has come to pack their bags and go.
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From KabTV”s “Like the Bundle of Reeds” 1/11/15

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Anticipating The Remedy For An Illness

laitman_560Question: Is it true that a person is open to a negative influence more than a positive influence? How much easier is it to go into a panic and worry than to be relaxed?

Answer: They simply haven’t taught us to oppose panic because the evil inclination, the ego, is what always motivates us: a thirst for control, respect and fame, envy, and so forth.

But if we turn these characteristics in a positive direction, they will influence us to the same degree as the negative, and even more.

In every situation we make some kind of calculation. I remember that when my son was a student, he was given the opportunity to travel in Europe. And I let him. He wasn’t home for two months. Certainly I was worried. This was more than twenty years ago; there weren’t any cell phones then.

Much later he traveled to the Far East, to even more dangerous places, to South America. How could I not let him? I put myself in his place. How could he have otherwise discovered life at such a young age? I had to let him, even though it worried me.

Question: But I am sure that there are other people who allow the same thing for their children and cannot sleep from worry.

Answer: This is called painful sensitivity. It is very difficult to overcome it alone. It is absolutely possible to program yourself for other behavior. For example, put yourself under the influence of the environment.

Question: Come, let’s imagine some kind of state of panic. Last night my daughter was delayed somewhere. I called a friend of hers, after that I called the police, hospitals, and didn’t get any answer. I didn’t know where to run. I called my wife and only got annoyed because she received this information in an absolutely relaxed manner. I panicked. So Influence me somehow so that I will stop being in a panic.

Answer: It is necessary to leave this state completely and consider it in a completely neutral way, without touching the problem point. Turn on some music, put some cake and coffee on the table. From this moment on we behave as if nothing happened, as if we are simply sitting in a coffee house and talking about daily life.

And so gradually we move to the subject of fears and worries on condition that in the beginning we talk about our positive attitude in similar situations. In other words, the remedy must anticipate the illness. After that it is necessary to talk about how good it is to be confident and calm. We try to relax ourselves, for example, we imagine ourselves on the beach.

And after this we begin to think about how to remain in this state of calm in our ordinary life. After all, children have their own lives. And what will be when in another five or six years your daughter goes into the army? Will she become more mature and smarter or will I stop being concerned about her? I must understand that all of my concerns don’t bring any benefit.

Question: And what if I see that someone relates to the given situation disparagingly?

Answer: This is not important because “Whoever condemns does so through his own flaws” (Kiddushin 70a). If I will begin to compare his irresponsibility with my inclination towards exaggerated concern, I will be left with nothing. And even if someone doesn’t know how to act nicely, in any case, I am included in his state.

Question: But I don’t want to plunge to the other extreme….

Answer: Don’t worry. Before you reach a balance, it will be necessary for this to “throw” you in the opposite direction. Ultimately everything will return to normal.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/21/12

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The Torah Is A Program And A Guide

Dr. Michael LaitmanA Book as a Means for Discovery

Question: Where does the Torah come from? Some think that it was emanated from above to Moses.

Answer: This is not even an idea, but its complete absence. 

Comment: Others suppose that Moses wrote the Torah himself.

Answer: First of all, Moses didn’t write it himself. There were people, his students, who wrote the Torah throughout the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. There is nothing here that goes beyond the limits of the ordinary world that we know, that is, except for one addition: the discovery of the upper force that surrounds and envelops this world and manages all of nature.

When we say that the Torah was given, that it was transmitted to the people of Israel, this is talking about attainment. There was no hand that transmitted something from above. The upper force is specifically a force, not a heavenly printing house that tossed scrolls to Moses. Is it possible to imagine something like that?

No, the Torah was written in the usual way. You cannot touch the upper force, just like the other forces in our world, with your hands,  and it is not grasped through a parchment or paper delivery. People attained it. Under its influence, they became aware of its mission, its purpose, and, over time, they became the people of the Book.

In this case, the Book is a discovery, a primary source through whose help we discover its author: Who He is, why He wrote, what He wants from us, and do we identify with Him or not?  If I am living in this world without seeing and knowing anything else, then for me, this book, this Torah, is something that was given to us as a higher, primary source through which we can attain the upper force. We have no connection with that except through the Torah.

Guidance for all Generations

It is necessary to understand that the Torah is not parchment scrolls or printed pages. Rather, as it is said, it is a program that must be implemented through the children of Israel, and it is implemented by them from generation to generation.

Accordingly, in every generation, if a person discovers this book for himself, that is, if he connects with it and is included in it in that he wants to discover the Creator through it, he sees that it is not just a historical story, but a history that is actually happening now. This is because, spiritually, the Torah is not limited by time. Through this history, a person can become aware of the upper force, and then the book becomes a source of revelation for him. Its true meaning is in this.

Thousands of years ago people discovered it for the first time, and since then this book has been with us in the form of the written Torah. Through that initial discovery and its written description, by maintaining the conditions that were transmitted together with the book, every generation can draw upon its message: What must one be in order to discover what is written in it?

A Book that Changes Us

Question: How would you characterize the Torah? In general, what kind of book is this?

Answer: Throughout the years of studying in school, we study particular books until we become mature, knowledgeable, and developed to a certain degree.

It is the same thing with the Torah. I must pass through all of those forms that its study creates within me. The preparation for learning and the learning itself, meaning, the correct use of the Torah, leads to this. I am constantly changing, developing, and passing through the stages described in it.

At the end of the way I attain my final individual correction. I become completely like that force that is showing me this entire “movie” of creation.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 1/04/15

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Adultery In Spirituality

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Torah, “Leviticus,” 20:10: And a man who commits adultery with [another] man’s wife, committing adultery with the wife of his fellow the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. All desires exist in a person and are divided into male and female parts. The first nine Sefirot are the male part. The tenth Sefira Malchut is the female part.

To commit adultery with a married woman means using a corrected desire that is not yours. If your tenth Sefira is not corrected, it isn’t your woman since it still belongs to the other nine Sefirot. You cannot use it correctly in order to bestow and will not succeed in doing so.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/23/14

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How Do We Deal With Anxiety And Worries?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Let’s imagine that ten people from all walks of life are with us in the studio. They are men and women who want to deal with their anxieties and worries. How is it possible to help them to find a point of balance and not to be insensitive like a stone, but also not to inflate all kinds of small things to extremes?

Answer: It is important to consider every person as a small individual system that must be in balance with the general system within which that individual exists.

As far as it seems, each one of the ten members of the group feels a need to change his life. First of all, this group of people must imagine a wonderful future. Play at having an orderly and relaxed life in which everything around you radiates hope, confidence, and warmth. If everyone is under the influence of his small environment, then according to this, everyone will begin to relate to life differently.

Question: How can I be impressed by the environment?

Answer: Within it I must feel myself as being someone small among the great, just as a child feels with his parents. First of all, I must respect this environment, thinking of it as important and great, and learning from it.

Secondly, I must feel myself as great and influential towards these people. I begin to play at being calm and confident even if in life I am far from being like that. In any case I am part of a game and I say, “Friends, everything is okay. Let’s look at the situation from the other side.”

Together with this, we shouldn’t say that such behavior is not serious. We simply neutralize our reactions that are based upon external factors that someone deliberately inflates because he wants to sell us something or just attract our attention. If everyone present here will maintain the rules of the game, then suddenly everyone will feel that wherever he is, people are attracted to him like a magnet because he radiates confidence about tomorrow.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 12/21/12

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In A Chain To The World Of Infinity

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Torah, “Leviticus,” 20:20:  And a man who lies with his aunt he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall bear their transgression; they shall die childless.

All connections that lead to the wrong contact between the lower level and the upper level are forbidden by the Torah because they cut off the ladder of ascent.

The Reshimot (reminiscences) should rise along the same chain that they descended from the world of Ein Sof through all the worlds into our world. Therefore we cannot do anything with nature except carefully follow the limitations we were given.

So, why is it unclear which Reshimo we can use and which we cannot? This is done purposefully so I clarify the most correct actions despite my impulses, thoughts, and desires.

On the other hand, the wrong actions help me penetrate more deeply into the system and see why everything is built the way it is. Therefore, this confusion is necessary in order for us to organize our brain and see how everything is internally arranged. This provides us with the depth of the attainment.

The chain that leads to the world of Ein Sof is very accurate and rigid. You can ascend only according to the same chain by which all your spiritual genetic data descended. Therefore whatever doesn’t give birth to the next level isn’t simply cut off, but is first studied and explored.

This is essential in order to attain the internal mechanism of the system. Without it, you would be an angel, that is, an animal that is led by nature and instinctively performs only the right actions.

But when there are a great number of options and you think about what is allowed and what is forbidden, by delving into the temptations and the difficulties and thus choosing the right thoughts and intentions, the attainment of the deep, boundless, system called the Creator is revealed within you.

It is adapted to you and you become its owner. It is just like an embryo, a human being, that develops from one genetic bud. The same thing happens here.

You actually have only one small point that can be turned in any direction since it has no direction of its own. But when you begin to work according to the instructions given by the Torah and explore where, what, and how, you begin to see the connection of your point in the heart with the whole immense system. Eventually it becomes the basis of this system.

Either way, you have to go through all these paths and explore them. They will be given to you from Above according to the root of your soul, according to the general Reshimo that is hidden within you, no matter what. We all have to go through this, each according to his own style, in his own way. Otherwise you will not become the owner of the system.

Comment: But all the so-called sins in our world occur as a consequence of the spiritual roots, like the union of two men or incest, etc.

Answer: It is the result of the shattering of the system that had to descend that way on purpose, be destroyed and become fully revealed to us so that we will begin to put it together again and ascend.

The Torah, “Leviticus,” 20:22: And you shall observe all My statutes and all My ordinances, and fulfill them, then the Land, to which I am bringing you to dwell therein, will not vomit you out. This is the condition upon which it is possible to enter the land of Israel, where everything is clean and there are no prohibitions. Then you are on a level when all these laws become natural laws for you and you don’t break them because you actually don’t feel that it is possible to keep them or to break them. This option no longer exists.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/23/14

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 01.18.15

Writings of Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam,” Article 44

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The Book of Zohar  – Selected Excerpts, “Evil Inclination and Good Inclination” 

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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Histaklut Pnimit,” Vol. 1, Part 1, Chapter 2, Item 14

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