In the News (Expert): “By the 60^th year of the 20^th century, Western society had achieved a high level of consumption, and people understood that money was not the main measure of happiness.

“Thus the concept of multidimensional quality of life was born, which in addition to income, is determined by security, access to knowledge, the development of medicine, life expectancy, environmental conditions, etc.

“But how could these different figures be brought together? Scientists have proposed to move from objective to subjective indicators, as measured by public opinion polls. But they depend on the measurement of one’s state regarding the state of his neighbor, and it turns out that those who do not live close to the rich are happier.

“From the subjective point of view, people’s quality of life in the last millennium has not grown, but fell because of the differentiation of the population according to the level of consumption in ancient Egypt or in medieval France, which was lower than it is now.

“That is, from a subjective point of view, there is no progress. Moreover, the spread of innovations causes inequality in terms of consumption, dissatisfaction and conflict.

“Progress, instead of improving the quality of life, reduces it due to the increasing inequality, and stagnation, and on the contrary, stabilizes society. Development is a meaningless process, similar to a dog chasing its own tail, that produces nothing other than envy and suffering.”

My Comment: We cannot stop progress. Its role is to lead us to the reflection on the meaninglessness of our existence so that having asked questions about the meaning of life, we move forward to reveal the Creator.
[150812]

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Question: How did the nation of Israel arise, where is it going, and what potential, which has not been realized, is inherent in it? If we understand this, then we might reach a completely different state, instead of experiencing all of today’s problems.

To understand this, we need to return to the events of more than two thousand years ago at the time when the Jewish people were in the land of Israel and hadn’t gone into exile yet. Many associate something mystical with theses people and believe that they have a secret connection with the upper force, a union. What is it really about?

Answer: We are talking about a group of people who united according to their desire to understand the essence and meaning of life: What are we living for and who governs us? That is, they were concerned with the questions of the very essence of life. That is why they united around Abraham who was the sage that lived at that time in ancient Babylon and began to teach them how to answer these questions.

In material terms, life in ancient Babylon was quite comfortable because a person lacked nothing on the still, vegetative, and animate levels. That is, the body felt well and pleasant. The only problem was in the Tower of Babel, which rose to the heavens. It was necessary to find out what they lived for and why, where the source of life was, and who managed it. That is, they wanted to know their Creator.

Abraham taught them that it was possible to do this. After all, their life fell apart for this purpose. People became estranged, distanced from each other, and no longer understood each other. But those who felt the urgent need to solve the mystery of life joined Abraham. He was a famous Babylonian sage and came from a prominent family. His father Terah was a Babylonian high priest.

Abraham taught them how to understand the force that controls nature: the force of love and bestowal. This force is opposite to the egoistic force of the still nature, of plants, animals, and people of this world, and therefore it created us in the opposite form, which is reception and hatred. This is what was manifested in them in Babylon in order to oblige them to reveal something contrary, the opposite force.

Abraham taught how it was possible to correct oneself and obtain this force in addition to that which we already possess by nature. This force does not exist in our world because our world is entirely sustained by reception and hatred. That is why, in order to acquire this opposite force of love and bestowal, we need a complete science.

The force of love is the upper force. How can we bring it closer, want it so that it is revealed to us, begin to live within it, and how can we start using this force?

If it is a force hidden in nature, then maybe we will be able to catch it through question about the meaning of our life, about what controls it. Through these questions, which in essence, any person asks, but does not delve into, we can begin to become acquainted with the upper force.
[150595]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 12/25/14

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Question: The Torah says, “Don’t turn to medicine men.” Why is this forbidden?

Answer: In principle, a person should turn only to the Upper Light for help; not to wait for help from below, but to look above. This is the problem. We usually run to doctors and look for something in order to make our situation easier.

Of course, this is not excluded. The Torah tells that it is impossible to manage without it, but only to the extent that it is necessary within the framework of the accepted direction of the society. All other efforts need to be directed to the Creator, the source of the problems.

Question: In the Torah it says that if you get sick, then go to a doctor. You said that your teacher would first go to one doctor, then to another doctors, and only afterward would begin with the treatment. Why?

Answer: You need to hear the opinion of both doctors and then choose one of them. Of course, they need to be respected and serious. And if both of them don’t agree, then go to a third, since from the first two you learn what the third should be. The choice is in your hands. Don’t trust blindly!

In this way, it is forbidden to trust the medicine men. Medicine men are those who don’t turn to the Creator but to all kinds of healing methods with the help of all kinds of spells and other such technology, which are not able to correct the person himself.

However, you can attain peace, tranquility, and good health without correcting yourself, but instead through some kind of alternative means. Thus, with people like alternative health practitioners, one must be very careful.  Without knowing it, they make our path even longer and increase sufferings. We must try to avoid experiences with them.

Very regretfully, a person gets used to acting as the others act in his surroundings and there is nothing to be done about this since a person must live within society. As it is said, “I am found within my people.”
[150231]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/16/14

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The early elections in Israel are accompanied by a serious crisis of confidence between the public and its elected representatives. It is no accident that one of the headlines in the newspapers was “The Knesset has Dissolved.” Yet the members of the Knesset voted for dissolution because they understood that the confidence of the public has dropped in recent years.

The public feels that politicians are cut off from them and this arouses disappointment, especially among young people. Many don’t see a reason for going to vote because they don’t expect any change for the better. Few think that the elections will truly help us solve the issues of housing, the cost of living, social relations, and security.

When people hear the campaign promises, they know that immediately after the elections everyone will forget about them until the next election. All we have left is a feeling of bitterness due to the lack of the ability to influence anything. Even the [Israeli] president recently expressed his concern about people not not going out to vote.

Clearly, a lack of faith in the leadership of the nation and the party that is elected undermines the foundations of democracy and has serious consequences. In the last decade, this phenomenon has spread among many nations in the West. And accordingly, fewer and fewer citizens go to the polls to vote, with the percentage of voters going down by double digits, which is a significant change.

Question: How did we arrive at a situation like this?

Answer: First of all, we must understand that the development of the world is subject to a particular program. Even though we are not aware of it, the course of history indicates this.

Sure, there were prominent figures like Napoleon, Lenin, Hitler, and Einstein who contributed greatly to history. That is, there are people through whom this program has been revealed in the world. But in general, the program continues to work, and it makes no difference who sits in Congress, in the Duma, in the Knesset, in the Majlis, or any other elected parliament.

After all, we are within a system called nature, and to the degree that we investigate it, we discover a rigid immutable law, without any concessions to anyone no matter how much one is sorry or concerned. Ultimately, nature relates simply to the levels of the still, vegetative, animate, and human, and has activated them to bring about a specific purpose from the beginning of creation until its end.

So when we choose people like these or others, it is up to us to understand that, in fact, this doesn’t change the program of nature. Rather what is important is how much these people understand the general program of nature and know how to bring the society to accord with it. This is precisely the place to introduce change, to transform our lives to become easier and more pleasant. This is because if we accommodate ourselves to this program, we will have fewer troubles.

But on the other hand, if we don’t understand the program, or even deny its existence, we will always stumble across unpleasant phenomena. And it is no wonder. Can we go against nature? Because of our lack of knowledge, we try to go against it, and we decided to build Communism and are quick to perform social experiments, but all these steps must be derived from nature. Without recognition of its laws, we are almost surely wrong in all of our activities. As a result, we waste a lot of energy, money, and resources, and, in spite of it all, we cannot realize our programs because they are not adjusted to the program of nature.

Question: What happens when we go against nature?

Answer: We find ourselves in trouble. For example, the politicians suggest completely contradictory solutions and one doesn’t listen to the other, leading us to a crisis. This is not to say that the elected public officials don’t want to or cannot help, but that they don’t bring their programs into coordination with the program of nature. This is particularly so in our time. For in the last 30 to 50 years, humanity has gradually reached a state in which it must intentionally and independently participate in its development. It is up to a person to be aware of the program of nature, to investigate it, and accordingly organize himself and society.

For thousands of years and up until the last half of the previous century, nature didn’t ask us how we wanted to develop and didn’t obligate us to develop according to its goal from an understanding of the program and its purpose. Rather, we were like a herd that advances with the help of blows, problems and pressures of various kinds like natural disasters, wars, social conflicts, the high cost of living, unemployment, family problems, and so forth.

But now we have reached a situation in which we must rise to the level of Adam (Man), who is a creature whose head begins to be similar to the program of nature. He begins to understand and attain creation, and from beginning to end, he sees the causes and effects and the possibility of proper participation in a process that runs through nature. Otherwise, this process will pass over us like a steamroller, “in its time,” and we will have no escape.

Therefore, it is up to us to learn the program and advance through the way of “I will hasten it,” and accordingly we take proactive measures.

This means that we ourselves will change, reaching a level in which we understand what nature demands from us. Then, according to the pressures of nature, we will respond immediately, time after time, and advance in a harmonious embrace with it.

In principle, this approach has been relevant since the end of the 19^th century, but from the middle of the previous century, it was necessary and in the last 20 to 30 years, it has become obvious.

As a citizen, who can I vote for? Can I rely on someone when I see that the ritual of elections in the world brings nothing but new problems? Every leader promises that he is ready to help people in every way possible. Let’s say this is right, and he is truly ready, but he doesn’t know how to do it.

So advancement will be in a particular direction that is independent of the prime minister or some president whom we curse. The crisis of confidence among the people towards their leaders is a natural phenomenon. And the problem is not in the leaders themselves. Even if they were truly committed to the people and their welfare, their plans still aren’t feasible.

There is only one way to succeed, and that is if leaders and the people will learn the essence of the question: towards what are we advancing under the pressure of nature? Then we would understand that it could be that it is not worthwhile for us to fight directly against the cost of living, the deterioration of education, the crisis in the family, and against corruption. It could be that we find a solution on an absolutely different plane. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, in such a , we would solely and only take care of the social issue.

Even today in the parties and in many organizations social issues are their top priority. But even if they understand that the leverage found here possesses immense potential, where can they find how to activate it? This is possible only if we open nature up and investigate it deeply.

So, even someone who wants to make changes for the better doesn’t succeed. As usual, the intentions are good, but the actions and their results are the opposite. We see this in regard to the last term of the government. A number of ministers were determined to succeed, but at the end, they entered into such great crisis that today all of the people ridicule and despise them.

The time has come for the people to understand the reason for the despair, why they despise their leaders and why there is a crisis of confidence in those who represent the people. We are already approaching this understanding.

For this, people must know what is really happening. It is up to them to understand that it is not right to punish and reject the politicians who sit in the Knesset, in the government, and in the various organizations. First of all, it is up to us to go back to school and learn the program of nature.

Humanity, and in particular the people of Israel, is entering into a new era. Today we must understand how nature is leading us and toward what goal. What is the shape, pattern, and model that our society must accept; how do we adapt ourselves to it, and accordingly, how must society change year after year?

We will change society ourselves and not through the blows of nature. In today’s situation, people must purposefully participate in these changes.

There is no escaping this. We cannot be released from this burden by holding the leaders and elected representatives accountable. None of them are ready for this task. First of all, it is up to us to learn what nature requires from us. There are people who call this force the divine or higher power because it is higher than us. This is because if a tsunami were to come, it would be beyond our abilities to deal with it. In other words, it is up to us to know how to behave in regard to it.

Our goal is to begin to learn, understand, and become familiar with the situation. This belongs to the officials elected by the people and those who elected them. We will then see which of us are ready to connect. Indeed, studies show that we need to connect “as one person with one heart” and not divide into many camps that devour one another.

There must be a completely opposite trend and a new perception that inspires people who are ready to correctly answer the questions that nature presents to us. In fact, all of the questions that nature places before us are solved through connection.

But if we continue to act according to the old methods, we can expect many more difficult problems than before. For the process is moving forward, and if we still have not adapted to the program of nature, we will endure much more suffering.
[149462]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 12/09/14

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Writings of Rabash, “Shlavei HaSulam,” Article 23

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, “Correction and the End of Correction,” Item 38

Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 6, Part 16, Item 84

Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 1, Part 1, Chapter 1, Item 3

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Question: The Jewish people are very complicated. On the one hand, they are called “stiff-necked,” meaning that they are the most egoistic. On the other hand, they must achieve and reach love, mutual cooperation, and positive qualities. How are these integrated together? How do people look that have a connection with the higher power?

Answer: People who are connected with the higher power are unique people. They are connected as one person with one heart thanks to mutual love above the ego that separates us. There are forces among us that distance us from each other, but instead of staying separate, we connect above those forces.

That is, we are under pressure from forces of separation and build unifying forces above them. That is how we strengthen ourselves under tension. Thanks to the separation and difference between these potentials, an enormous force appears within us.

After all, there is a force that separates us from our desire to be together and another force that connects us and overcomes our resistance. As much as the tension between these forces grows, the more strongly they reveal to us the higher power, the Creator. He is discovered specifically within this pressure, in the tension between the two forces.

Within this unity and connection that is built above the separation, we discover the higher power, the characteristic of bestowal and love that exists around us. From these two forces of separation and connection we shape a new sense for discovering the Creator called the “soul.”

The soul is the condition for detecting the force of bestowal and love that is hidden in nature. Today we haven’t discovered it because we don’t have the necessary sense organ to do so. If  we  want to discover it, we need to learn like the people who gathered around Abraham did who were taught to construct this new sense based upon great separation. Those who came to Abraham were not naïve children; rather, they were great egoists demanding real explanations and discovery, an understanding of the meaning of life and the ways of attaining reality.

We see that our civilization has exhausted itself: We have reached the peak of development, but have not yet attained happiness. We are beginning to tear each other apart from desperation, from misunderstanding.

It was Abraham who taught people how to discover the force of connection that exists in nature. By studying this force of connection and unity, we begin to see that our lives on the face of the earth, in this world, are only an introduction, a preparation, for a completely different life!

In this new life we stop feeling the world of the still, vegetative, and animate, physical objects and bodies, and this universe. We understand  that we have come into this world only to create a network of connections between us built from our natural power of reception, from the ego, and from the bestowal and love from above that covers it.

Through our building a network like this, we begin to live within it. And this is called the “world to come.” It is then that the perception of our previous physical reality, which we now feel, will disappear and we will enter into a completely different reality in which life is eternal, infinite, and perfect.
[150692]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 12/25/14

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Question: How does one finally start a new life in January 2015, the life which we postpone year after year?

Answer: We have our television channel that we sustain with our own money, without receiving help from other sources. I strongly recommend that in this New Year, everyone tune in to [Israeli] Channel 66 and start watching and listening to it.

In this way, you will gradually enter a new world. You will discover how to reverse your life to one that is safer, kinder, gentler, and will begin to understand where you exist. If you begin to engage in serious study, then you truly will be able to reach new heights. It is possible for each one to achieve it.

In many cities there are branches of the Bnei Baruch Education Center, which provides Kabbalah courses for anyone that wants them. Through the Internet, it is possible to study virtually and connect with others. We also organize meetings, conventions, and conferences here and around the world.

Comment: Please give us advice on how to achieve happiness in 2015.

Answer: Let’s create a bond between us. Start to learn about what the wisdom of Kabbalah speaks of. It is the most ancient wisdom that comes to us from Babylon. Its founder, Abraham created the Jewish nation by uniting people around the wisdom of Kabbalah. This wisdom clarifies the foundation and general outline of man’s nature.

Read my article “Who Are You, People of Israel?” published in The New York Times on September 20, 2014. The article addresses the sources of anti-Semitism, what is happening today in the world, where are we from, etc. Begin by reading these small pieces.

When you are ready, I will be waiting for you in our center in Petach Tikva where I give lessons for beginners. It might be that we will meet in another city, since we have many students all over Israel.

Let’s become acquainted, let’s do it, and in spite of the results of the election, the year 2015 and the following years will be years of peace and good.
[150805]
From KabTV’s “The New Year” 12/25/14

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In the News (inoSMI.ru): “The Pope’s message for Christmas was an appeal to the rising wave of hate, oppression and violence in the world. Literally, everyone is in conflict! The world is experiencing a surge in fanaticism and extremism. Anger and hatred on religious, ethnic and social grounds are widely spread throughout the world.

“All countries and the people who live on the territory of one country are in conflict with each other, although recently, they were not foreign to mutual tolerance, agreement. Why do these people now hate each other and, taking up arms, kill those whom they consider to be their enemies?

“Leaders, heads of state, religious leaders – their mission is to suppress the instinct of hatred, hostility, violence, the general public, and to instill in them tolerance, peace and love.”

My Comment: Neither nations nor their leaders will be able to prevent the fall of the world into hatred. The key to improving the world is only in the people of Israel, in its unity for the sake of revealing the Creator.
[150607]

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Question: What kind of a year will 2015 be for the world, Israel, and the wisdom of Kabbalah, which is only beginning to be revealed to everyone? To what extent can it be revealed in the near future?

Answer: I bind these three parameters together: the world, Israel, and the wisdom of Kabbalah. The state of the world depends on the extent to which humanity will discover the wisdom of Kabbalah, the science of managing the universe.

Comment: This sounds like a worldwide Jewish conspiracy, which frightens the whole world…

Answer: There is no conspiracy. If there were, it would be very easy to expose and rapidly destroy it.

But it is true that the Jews determine the future of the world at every moment of its history and development. Here I agree with all of the anti-Semites because this is a law of nature! There can be no agreement or disagreement, whether we like it or not. This is the way it is, so there is no reason to hide it. I wrote about this in my article in The New York Times.

Anti-Semitism exists because Jews are not performing their function. As soon as we begin to perform our function, all of the nations of the world will turn their faces towards us and will help us with everything.

Question: How is it that you think that in 2015 the Jewish people will come closer to implementing the task that has been entrusted to them?

Answer: It depends on how much we reveal the wisdom of Kabbalah to the world. It explains how the nations of the world and the Jews influence the system of governance; we are all included in the  general global development and constitute a single system. So we have to know how to interact correctly so as to influence the external system of nature whose forces move all of humanity forward.

When we will really become one with the forces of nature, people will no longer be divided into religions, nobody will rule over anybody else, and we will not need to aspire to anything other than harmony with nature. Every moment of our lives we will focus only on this.

Our development will immediately be clarified by our sensing eternity and perfection. We will stop thinking about the existence of the body; it will gradually disappear from our senses. We will feel an influence that comes from outside of the system into which we will seemingly begin to dissolve.

We will start actively transitioning to a completely new level of existence, into another dimension. This sounds a bit unusual, but it is truly so. The wisdom of Kabbalah raises a person to an eternal level.

The unity that is created as a result of our connection on a physical level is our collective immortal soul—one for everyone. Within it we discover our next existence on a new level of our development.

This is because today we are still on an animate level of development, absorbed by our concern for our physical body. Food, sex, family, wealth, fame, power, and knowledge, all determine the present human level.

But when we rise above these interests to the connection between us, we will reach a next level of existence called “unearthly.” So now we belong to the animate level. But if we begin to develop the human being out of ourselves, we will then create Adam (Man), from the Hebrew word “Adameh” (similar), a single image similar to the upper nature.

I look at the future with optimism and still hope to see how my students and all of the Jewish people will become the luminaries of the world. In any case, they cannot escape this mission, but it’s preferable for us to understand it as soon as possible and begin to realize it in the world, thus reducing suffering to zero.
[150802]
From KabTV’s “The New Year” 12/25/14

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