The Torah, “Leviticus,” 23:14: You shall eat bread or [flour made from] parched grain or fresh grain, until this very day, until you bring your God’s sacrifice. [This is] an eternal statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

Bread represents the characteristic of Hassadim (mercy), so the correction of a person happens precisely around this states.

In our spiritual correction before the Omer (sheaf), we are involved with everything, just not with bread. Bread is human nourishment. Those who correct the Omer within them—meaning those who harvest, gather, bind, and turn it into baked products made from flour—reach the level of full bestowal.

Pastries (baked products made from flour) refer to the attainment of egoistic desires that grow from the ground, from the lowest state, where a person can grow them and turn them into the characteristic of bestowal.

As a general rule, egoistic characteristics on the level of the still are found in each one of us, so we can correct them without any problem. But here this is talking about developing the egoistic characteristics within ourselves that transform into food for the spiritual level, Adam.

With this we create our internal self-inquiry because we know how to develop the ego within us, how to manage it, how it will grow in the left and right lines, and then we correct it by comparing and matching them, advancing forward in the middle line.

Everything that is mentioned in the Torah is intended only for our connection and unification, and teaches on what level, in which conditions, which parts of our desire, are connected and complete each other reciprocally with resemblance and equivalence with the Creator. This is all that a person needs to do in this world beyond the minimal satisfaction of his basic needs.

When we finish our spiritual correction, providing ourselves with the levels of the still, vegetative, and animate through the “fruits of the land,” then this world disappears. And we remain existing in a corrected and eternal state. We try to reach this while we are still alive in this world. The wisdom of Kabbalah was given to us for that purpose.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 5/28/14

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The Torah, “Leviticus,” 21:1 – 21:3: And the Lord said to Moses: Speak to the Cohanim (priests), the sons of Aaron, and say to them: Let none [of you] defile himself for a dead person among his people except for his relative who is close to him, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, and for his virgin sister who is close to him, who was not [yet] with a man for her, he shall defile himself. 

In spiritual work, a person is always found as an intermediary component between higher and lower characteristics. The higher characteristics of the priest are direct to the Creator.The lower characteristics are those that hold and support a desire that is directed toward the Creator and proceed according to a hierarchy directed downward. A person is based seemingly upon these desires, each one of them is connected to him on his level when he nullifies himself and is included in his yearning for the Creator. With this, they justify their mission.

This is to say, “…his relative who is close to him…” symbolize those desires of the priest (Cohen) that are not relevant to his direct connection to the Creator, but to lower levels.

In creation, nothing was created besides desire. So, our work is to direct it toward bestowal, toward the Creator, just as He directs His action toward us, and then we attain adhesion.

A priest (Cohen) is a characteristic that is ready to raise all of the desires that stand below according to a hierarchy and direct them toward connection with the Creator.

The Levites are the executing mechanism, shaping the desires that are found under the priest. They understand the priests and know how to carry out his instructions.

Israel are even lower desires that can be subservient to the Levites and through them to the priest (Cohen), and they constitute a connection between the higher desires and the desires called the “nations of the world,” and below the desires of the nations of the world are the desires of the animate, vegetative, and still.

All of the desires must be directed together toward general unity, and when it is attained, then within it the characteristic of full mutual bestowal is discovered. Imagine for a long time you are painstakingly gathering something, and suddenly it begins to glow from within. This means that the power of the desires attains this kind of unity when it begins to shine. This is the discovery of the Creator.

In other words, this mutual unification among the characteristics of the creatures happens when the Creator is discovered. He shines through the entire pyramid according to the law of equivalence between the desire and the Light. This is the goal of our development, whereas the goal of our existence is to attain this state and to advance toward something that, in the meantime, is still not known to us.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/28/14

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Like A Bundle of Reeds, Why Unity and Mutual Guarantee Are Today’s Call of the Hour, Michael Laitman, Ph.D.

Chapter 6: Expendable
Contemporary Anti-Semitism

In Chapter 1, we said that Abraham discovered that human nature’s inherent egotism is on a constant trend of expansion. The method he devised was not intended to curb that egotism because he knew this was impossible, as man was created to receive boundlessly. His only question, therefore, was how to receive that intended bounty. Abraham discovered a method where, by studying and striving to unite, people rose to a new level of perception. Here, they acquired the nature of the Creator—benevolence—and could therefore receive that boundless pleasure without becoming overindulgent and dangerous to themselves or the environment.

The exodus from Egypt and the formation of the nation of Israel marked a five-century stage of formation. During that time, Israel went from being a group made of family and students into an entire nation whose goal was to attain the Creator.

While attempting to rise to the highest spiritual level, the Hebrews never retreated from their original intention to offer their perceptions to the whole of humanity. This was to be their contribution to the nations, the “light” they were meant to give to them. Through the generations, that gift of “light” is what the nations have been trying to receive from the Jews, and the lack thereof has been the cause of our afflictions by the nations.

In the prologue to his book, A History of the Jews, Christian historian and novelist, Paul Johnson, eloquently describes the questions that drove Abraham to his discoveries, the same questions that drive humanity to this day. Johnson portrays his reverence for the Jews’ ability to discover the answers to those questions, live by their consequent laws, and their efforts to teach them to others. In his words, “The book gave me the chance to reconsider objectively, in the light of a study covering nearly 4,000 years, the most intractable of all human questions: what are we on earth for? Is history merely a series of events whose sum is meaningless? Is there no fundamental moral difference between the history of the human race and the history, say, of ants? Or is there a providential plan of which we are, however humbly, the agents? No people has ever insisted more firmly than the Jews that history has a purpose and humanity a destiny. At a very early stage in their collective existence they believed they had detected a divine scheme for the human race, of which their own society was to be a pilot. They worked out their role in immense detail. They clung to it with heroic persistence in the face of savage suffering. Many of them believe it still. Others transmuted it into Promethean endeavors to raise our condition by purely human means. The Jewish vision became the prototype for many similar grand designs for humanity, both divine and man-made. The Jews, therefore, stand right at the centre of the perennial attempt to give human life the dignity of a purpose.”[i]

[i] Paul Johnson, (Christian historian), A History of the Jews (New York, First Perennial Library, 1988), 2

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World Kabbalah Convention, Day Two, Preparation for Lesson 4

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World Kabbalah Convention, Day Two, Lesson 4

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World Kabbalah Convention, Day Two, Prepartion for Lesson 5

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World Kabbalah Convention, Day Two, Lesson 5

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Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
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The Huffington Post published my article: “The Simple (and Unwelcome) Solution to Anti-Semitism”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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The next level of our development is called the upper world.

Question: But doesn’t natural evolution happen outside of our desire without being contingent upon freedom of choice?

Answer: Freedom of choice is given only in the choice of the way in which we go towards the goal. But the soul must be developed in every person.

This is like in a school in which there are children who learn well and enjoy life. And there are those who don’t want to learn who are punished and suffer. But ultimately they also finish school: either due to their good desire or through punishments and suffering. So we can also go and develop our soul in all kinds of ways, but the result is already determined from the start.

Question: Does this mean that I must develop my soul during this life in this world? Isn’t this some kind of abstract concept existing somewhere in the next world?

Answer: We develop the soul in this world because the soul is the power of bestowal and love, connection with others. So it is possible to develop it only at a time when I am an egoist, and it is up to me to overcome my ego and approach other people. Only through this activity, through this yearning, do I develop within me a new power of unification and connection with others, a power that is called the “soul.”

Question: Does this mean that the development of the soul is simply the development of new characteristics?

Answer: The soul symbolizes the development of new altruistic characteristics. The soul is the power of bestowal in a person that doesn’t exist in him now when he is an egoist. At the present time there is only a tiny nucleus in us, a potential force that can develop into a soul. I can develop this potential so it will develop into an active force. To the degree that this potential is actively realized, I begin to discover a new world before me.

With this new characteristic I will see a new world. Even today I see this world through my characteristics, within my ego, while the higher spiritual world can be seen with the characteristic of bestowal. Just as today we see only this world as real and live in it with our bodies, we begin to live in the spiritual world with our souls.
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From the Radio Program Israeli 103FM, 2/1/15

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The Scroll of Esther (Megillat Esther) 1:1: And it came to pass in the days of Achashverosh, the same Achashverosh who ruled from Hodu to Cush, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces. So begins Megillat Esther, the Book of Esther. The Hebrew word “Megillah” is derived from the word “Gilui” (disclosure) and “Esther” means hidden. Esther is the queen’s name, the wife of Ahasuerus. Megillat Esther symbolizes the revelation of the concealed, implying that although something is revealed to you, you should remember that it all remains in concealment.

The Scroll of Esther (Megillat Esther) 2:5, 2:7 – 2:20: He raised his cousin Hadassah, also called Esther, for she had neither father nor mother. The girl was of beautiful form and beautiful visage, and when her father and mother died, Mordechai adopted her as his daughter. Now when the king’s order and edict became known, and many girls were gathered to Shushan, the capital under the charge of Heigai, Esther was taken to the palace under the charge of Heigai, custodian of the women.

The girl found favor in his eyes and won his kindness, so that he hurried to provide her with her cosmetics and meals.  [All the while] Esther did not divulge her race or ancestry, for Mordechai had instructed her not to tell.

Esther belonged to the Jewish people who had a connection to the upper force and if she had told the truth about her origin, it could have harmed her relationship with the king.

And the king loved Esther more than all the women and she won his favor and kindness more than all the virgins;

She obtained grace and favor in his eyes because she revealed a certain part of her spiritual potential in her relationship with the king.

Then the king made a grand feast for all his ministers and servants, “The Feast of Esther.” He lowered [taxes] for the provinces and gave presents befitting the king. And when the virgins were gathered a second time, Mordechai was sitting at the king’s gate.

Esther would [still] not divulge her ancestry or race, as Mordechai had instructed her. Indeed, Esther followed Mordechai’s instructions just as she had done while under his care.

Mordechai (Mor Dror) is the upper force, a very serious force which is totally concealed. Esther fully continued his line.

… Mordechai was sitting at the king’s gate.

This means the gate of the upper king, the upper force of nature. Sitting represents the state of lowliness, of smallness. Therefore, Mordechai waited patiently for the opportunity to pass on the attribute of the upper force to all the people on earth. The population of Babylon in those days was actually all of humanity.

The Scroll of Esther (Megillat Esther) 3-1, 3:5 – 9: After these events, King Achashverosh promoted Haman, son of Hamdata, the Agagite and advanced him; he placed his seat above all his fellow ministers.

There must be a very big desire in order to reveal the upper force, the Creator’s greatness. First it stems from the ego, then it is corrected and the revelation of the Creator is received in the corrected desire. Mordechai didn’t have that desire. He was in a state of smallness, sitting at the king’s gate, so it was necessary to include the ego in him in order to raise him to the next level. The ego that is added to Mordechai is called Haman.

When Haman saw that Mordechai would not kneel or bow before him, Haman was filled with wrath. But he thought it contemptible to kill only Mordechai, for they had informed him of Mordechai’s nationality. Haman sought to annihilate all the Jews, Mordechai’s people, throughout Achashverosh’s entire kingdom.  In the first month, which is the month of Nissan, in the twelfth year of King Achashverosh’s reign, a pur, which is a lot, was cast before Haman, for every day and every month, [and it fell] on the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

Haman represents the universal ego. He had to kill the desire called Mordechai, which constantly threatened the ego. He planned to annihilate and destroy all the Jews since the Jewish people are actually a conduit for the Light and the attribute of bestowal. If they began to bestow unto all the other nations they would certainly be able to correct them and turn them into altruists, and turn them into an upper nation too just like them; a nation that wouldn’t serve Haman anymore. Haman knew that he couldn’t correct himself and so he had no other choice and was obliged to act against Mordechai.

Haman said to King Achashverosh, “There is one nation, scattered and dispersed among the nations throughout the provinces of your kingdom, whose laws are unlike those of any other nation and who do not obey the laws of the King. It is not in the King’s interest to tolerate them. If it please the King, let [an edict] be issued for their destruction…”

Each of the nations that lived in the 127 provinces of the Babylonian empire had a territory of its own, but the Jews dispersed among all the nations and didn’t have their own land. However, they still attributed themselves to one particular tribe called the nation of Israel.

This is the reason that Haman said: “There is one nation, scattered and dispersed among the nations throughout the provinces of your kingdom” which means that they were not connected to each other. The ego separated them and made them feel repulsed by one another. They couldn’t be a nation since all the other nations were defined by their origin and had a whole earthly egoism, which the Jews didn’t. They differed to such an extent that they spoke Aramaic among them and not Hebrew, their mother tongue.

In the time of the First Temple, the Jews were on a spiritual level and spoke Hebrew, but when they fell to an egoistic level that was much lower than the other nations they actually lost their language, the language of bestowal and of mutual love, and began to speak Aramaic, a language that is the reverse of Hebrew. What is more, every nation felt that they belonged to one social class and every nation respected the king and bowed to his idols, while the Jews had no idols, no respect for the king, and no proper mutual social relations among them. They were the greatest egoists who didn’t get along with one another at all.

Question: If the Jewish nation was separated to such an extent, what danger did it pose for Haman?

Answer: Haman felt that the time for the awakening of the Jews to unity was approaching. It is said that Haman was a great astrologist. He saw according to the signs, which means according to his inner feeling, truly what the Jewish nation actually is. Haman is the opposite side of a Kabbalist, of the one who bestows. He realized that something was about to happen that would bring the exile of the nation of Israel to an end and that they would return to their land, which for him meant death. They had to destroy him on their way back since it was impossible to rebuild the Second Temple without killing and destroying Haman. Therefore, he had no choice but to destroy them, not out of wickedness, but according to the clear and accurate laws of nature.

The Scroll of Esther (Megillat Esther) 3:10 – 11, 3:13: The king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, son of Hamdata, the Agagite, persecutor of the Jews. The king said to Haman, “The money is yours to keep, and the nation is yours to do with as you please.”

Achashverosh (Ahasuerus) thought of how to raise the nation of Israel. He realized that they must be frightened and thus forced to unite and connect since their power is only in unity and in ascending to the upper level. But this was possible only with the help of Haman. The Jews had to be terrified of their ego and destroy it so that they would turn it to altruism, and only then would be able to rise. They couldn’t rise without Haman.

The Scroll of Esther (Megillat Esther) 4:1 – 2: Letters were sent with couriers to all the provinces of the king: to annihilate, murder and destroy all the Jews, young and old, children and women, on one day—the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar and to plunder their possessions. Mordechai knew all that had occurred, so Mordechai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ash. He went out into the city crying loudly and bitterly. He went up until the king’s gate, for it is improper to enter the king’s gate wearing sackcloth.

Mordechai  had to tell everyone what was about to happen and to awaken both the good and the evil forces in order to properly reveal the way humanity should follow. Therefore, He went out into the city crying loudly and bitterly.  He wasn’t the unnoticed old man who sat quietly at the city gate anymore. He actually began to be active.

“Crying loudly and bitterly,” refers to the revelation, the call, the connection, which he recreated between the Malchut and Keter. Until then Mordechai was in a state of smallness (Malchut in Bina), but now when he changed into a state of greatness, a state of revelation, he connected the two opposite points of the Creation, Malchut and Keter, through Bina. It says: Mordechai tore his clothes. Clothes is the state a person hides behind. By tearing his clothes, Mordechai puts an end to his previous humble state. He wants to be revealed.

The attribute of Mordechai is the attribute of Bina, complete bestowal. It has nothing to do with the ego and cannot do anything by itself. There is a need for this connection now. The ashes are the very last egoistic level. When he puts ashes on his head Mordechai raises this level above himself, which means that he places himself below all of creations, below everything. These aren’t just nice words but a real spiritual action; an action that he performed so that he would be able to convey the great force of correction to everyone through him. Thus he prepares himself for the state of disconnecting from the ego and to the ascent to the attribute of Bina, when he could convey all the upper Light called Mordechai (Mor Dror), a great Light, through him.
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From a Talk about Purim 2/19/15

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The king responds favorably to the proposal by Haman and informs him of his decision to destroy all the Jews throughout the kingdom.

Mordechai conveys the message to Esther about the need to go to the king with a plea for mercy. However, Esther sets a condition and through Mordechai, she turns to her people with a call to connect and unite. She is then ready to turn to the king with the request for mercy and pardon for those condemned to death. The fate of the Jews depended solely on their unity.

This Is How We Win

There are many “Hamans” throughout the world. Every nation has its Haman, the main hater of the Jews, and woe to the Jews if they forget this.

The condition that transforms the Jews into a people is the condition for which they stood at Mount Sinai: their readiness to join together and answer positively to the call for unification. That is how this happened in the days of Purim 2,500 years ago. The king remembered that he owed Mordechai for saving his life. Esther drafted Mordechai’s request before the king and the Jews were saved. Much later, King Cyrus of Persia, Esther’s son, helped them return to the land of Israel and build the second Beit ha Mikdash (Temple).
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From the brochure about the holiday of Purim, 03/2015

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Question: In the future society built upon spiritual laws and operating as a single body, will any personal goals remain with any person or will there only be collective goals?

Answer: Everything that is relevant to our physical bodies will be arranged in the simplest way because all of the desires and goals connected to corporeal existence belong to the animate level. Clearly everyone requires nourishment, sex, and family, and you arrange for all of this, yet no more than necessary.

After all, nothing will interest you besides attaining the goal in the group, in your society. There, within the society, you will feel your life is on another level, on a human, spiritual level. So our physical life will be very simple.

Question: In the new world will there be scientists, teachers, and musicians? Let’s say that I am a violinist, will I have a personal goal?

Answer: Your goal will be to play the violin as beautifully and well as possible in order to be integrated into society and to cause connection between people. After all, if you bring benefit to the general connection and strengthen it, you will achieve your personal goal—living within everyone.

Question: Is our goal to feel ourselves connected as one person with one heart?

Answer: This is not a goal but a means. The goal is to feel the source of life and feel that I am useful to everyone when I love others as myself.

Question: The goal of a violinist is to become the best performer. What will be his goal in the corrected world?

Answer: It will also be to become the best violinist! Yet today for you the meaning of “being the best” is getting lots of money and respect. So the ego pushes you to be the best with a personal pragmatic goal.

However, in the world of tomorrow, you will yearn to become the best violinist not for the ego, but from love of others. What motivates you is not self-love at the expense of others but the desire to serve people. Everything is completely different: from the beginning of the work to its end.

This approach makes it possible for you to feel all of creation through the heart and mind of society. And then you will see the upper world. You won’t feel the animal world like you do today; a world that is perceived through the five senses since our bodies belong to the animate level. The new world will be felt through the five collective senses that are built after gathering all the desires and passions of friends.

So you will feel the world on a higher level. Instead of the usual seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching, senses that are called: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut will be created with you.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 4/29/14

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