The “…seven years of great plenty…” (Genesis 41:29) are given to a person so that he can organize all the conditions of advancement for himself.   I try to be in bestowal, in connection with the group. I carry out actions and maintain various conditions. In the meantime, my evil inclination is not revealed. It is revealed, but on a human level, not on a spiritual level. Only after I prepare myself well do the “…seven years of famine…” (Genesis 41:30) begin. They don’t come just like that by chance, but rather as a result of a person’s effort.

A new king arises in Egypt. This means that I begin to identify that my desire, my nature, is evil. Until then, I didn’t think so. I didn’t understand that this was so. I heard that the ego is evil, and this is clear to everyone. However, I thought that I advanced, that I wanted to attain spirituality, and I didn’t understand that my nature is the evil inclination.

I, myself, must determine, recognize, that my entire nature, everything that is in me, is evil. It makes no difference what characteristic I pick.

But we are not talking about the desire itself, about the material, but about the intention. This means that I must understand and gradually reveal that the intention for every desire or all of my habits is the opposite of spirituality.

Seven years of famine is a critical understanding of the seven years of plenty. Now, I can examine and see that in truth there is not even one single characteristic within me with whose help it is possible to advance. Everything is under the control of an intention for the sake of reception. This is the work during the period of the seven years of famine.

However, I see this after I approach the Light, the Creator. I understand and feel what the spiritual world is more and more, meaning the intention for the sake of bestowal. There is a point in me called Moses that is connected to the force of bestowal. Thanks to that, I know that a force like this exists in the world.

Basically, I find it within me and not in other dimensions. This is my inner space, but, in the meantime, I don’t see it, I don’t identify it.

If I want to build an intention for the sake of bestowal on my desires that are found under the control of the intention “for the sake of reception,” under the dominance of Pharaoh—in other words, to have the Creator rule over them—this is called moving from slavery in Egypt to becoming a servant of the Creator. I see how difficult this is and that it is even impossible because in every desire and thought in mind and heart I am totally an egoist. I didn’t think this before!

Now, I constantly try to act for the sake of bestowal and see that everything goes out for the sake of reception. This is called the children of Israel passing through the 49 gates of Tuma’a (Impurity).

This is revealed to a person slightly, gradually, so as not to give him despair and so he would surrender. It is up to him to continue to check again and again, until everything is clarified to the end, and he would see that there is nothing in him that belongs to the sacred. So, his prayer will be complete, and his scream will be a true scream.

Only then will this be called MAN (prayer), and not before then, and help will come from above, which is called spiritual birth, the exodus from Egypt. Immediately, all at once, I will receive the ability to leave the dominance of the intention for the sake of reception that is called Pharaoh. I leave the control of Pharaoh and begin to acquire an intention for the sake of bestowal, and it is clear that this intention is clothed in the desires, in the characteristics, that were previously in me.

In the beginning, I only was preparing and had to be in a state of the “children of Israel,” in the immature state, in the right line (Kav Yamin) and even the middle line (Kav Emtzai). It is up to me to conquer Egypt, and I begin to be connected to it, in the meantime without understanding that this is the Egyptian slavery, and after that, the true Egypt is revealed to me with the seven years of famine, and then I get the power to escape. It is because I invested all effort in the right line, as it is written, “He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again…” (Job 20:15).
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/27/14, Writings of Rabash

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Question: We cannot take an example from the group because I don’t see anyone around me that deserves it. The only person I can take an example from is the teacher. Is it correct to do so or not?

Answer: This is not correct. You need to make efforts to see the friends in a nice way, but you look at them in an incorrect form, according to your idea, they are stupid and lazy.

You describe them in such a way, otherwise the ego and your pride will not let you live. You will be disappointed all the time because your friends are higher than you, and there are those that already have crossed the barrier (Machsom), and you haven’t achieved anything. If you would see the truth, you wouldn’t be able to stand it. Therefore, you are not shown it, and you can disrespect all the others. You have no possibility of seeing them in their real form and receiving aspiration. You cannot work toward the teacher as you work toward the friends. Your work toward the friend is to make him great in your eyes.

Question: But you said that if the student does not adhere to his teacher, he will not learn anything.

Answer: But what exactly does one need to learn? One learns from the teacher (Rav) how to adhere to the friends in order to reveal the Creator between them. The teacher is the guide that points to the direction to go. He does not call you to come to him; rather, he tells you to go in a certain direction! This is his role.

In our days we have reached a new and special situation that does not have a holy leader as was customary with the nation through generations because today the entire nation must reveal the Creator.

People need to be directed to the Creator and not worship their leader. This was once, but now completely different times have arrived. Before, there was no other way. The nation needed some leader that would take care of them so that a person would know that someone great prayed for him and would arrange his life.

However, today times are completely different because now we all must recognize the truth at least a bit. Someone at the level of first grade and someone at the level of fourth grade and someone at the level of university and someone at the level of a professor—it doesn’t matter which level—each one needs to attain the truth somehow.

We already exited those days, and the past will not return. There will be no other leaders for the spiritual correction of the world because everyone needs to reveal and know the Creator. Therefore, there is no place for Hassidism because, as it is written, “…for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them…”

One comes to adhere to the Rav by constant and internal devotion and not by ritualistic actions. There is no room for that in our times. Or, you perform virtues, use amulets, or you help people to understand what the work of God is for them. The world needs correction, and for that we all need to work according to the same system, one for all.

The time of exterior effects is over because everything is concentrated internally. Of course for the simple person it is hard to stay on the road if he does not have the help of the influence of a “holy man,” including all his exterior signs. A person needs someone to take care of him like a big and important father, but this deflects him from his path. Therefore, there will be no more exterior effects because with them it is possible to attract those that are not capable of working on their correction.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/2/14, Writings of Rabash

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Topic of Lesson: “Preparation for Independence Day” 

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Topic of Lesson: “Preparation for Independence Day”

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The Passover Haggadah tells us that a person has the opportunity to plan his life and become its master. It explains the goal that he must achieve, the means of accomplishing this, and what he needs to change within himself. It gives us all the details.

The Passover Haggadah, in the first place, gives a person the means to understand what his life is today and how much it is limited and dead.

It reveals how one can make a breakthrough and escape this dead life and rise to the state above our current nature in order to achieve the perfect level of freedom.

This is called liberation from the angel of death because we rise above death.

Question: What does it mean to rise above death?

Answer: It means to live an eternal life.

Question: Does this mean that I will never die? I have not seen a single person who has lived forever.

Answer: Only bodies die. But we discover another entity in ourselves, which is the inner human being, my “I.” This inner “I” is removed from my body and does not feel death.

Anyone who really wants to obtain freedom and eternal life can learn how to realize this using the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is quite possible, as it is written: “You will see your world in your lifetime,” that is, we are able to reveal in it the upper force, the Creator. Everyone is able to achieve this since the doors are open to everyone—only a desire is required.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 3/31/15

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Question: What are the four sons that the Passover Haggadah refers to: one wise, one wicked, one simple, and one who does not know how to ask a question?

Answer: All the four sons contemplate the same question: “How can we rise above our egoism?” The wise son philosophizes and says that these laws can be interpreted in one way or another, but there is no solution that would allow us to get out of Egypt, that is, to rise above our egoism.

The wicked son says: “But why do we need to rise above it?” He does not want to do this at all and asks: “What is the use of this work against egoism? Leave me alone, I’m fine.” Therefore, in our eyes, he is wicked because he does not wish to rise above his current state, although it is bad. He takes everything as it is and does not want to come out of Egypt.

The simple son says that these laws are not understandable and it is not clear why we came out of Egypt. He is not aware that he is in bondage and how to rise out of this slavery.

We are sitting around the holiday table. One feels like the wise son, the other as the simple one, and the third one as the wicked one, and the fourth is like the one who does not know how to ask a question. And this fourth son, who does not know how to ask, needs to say that day: “This is in honor of the fact of what the Creator has done for us, taking us out of Egypt.”

This son does not know how to ask, not because he is stupid, abstruse, or wicked. He realizes that there is something, some kind of way to get out of our nature that we cannot perceive and recognize.

All the guests at the table are also wondering: “Where do we need to exit to and why? Where have you seen that you can get rid of your ego? This does not exist in nature.” Everyone is asking these questions, the wise, the simple, and the wicked.

But he who does not know how to ask does not ask questions, knowing that there is a secret hiding about which nothing can be asked because it is completely inaccessible to us. There is something beyond our lives, beyond our egoism, in whose hands we are found.

There is a reason we were created and exist in this miserable way. But it is not clear what can be done with it; we cannot see the exit. Therefore, it is said that it is necessary for it to be explained. Indeed, if a person develops to such a state when he has nothing to say to justify his egoism, then he finds a solution.

Everyone has eventually become the son who does not know how to ask questions. These are the four stages of human development. Each of us is on his stage of development and thus may recognize himself in one of the four sons according to the question he asks.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 3/31/15

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Question: Where do the “seven years of satiety” end and the “seven years of hunger” begin?

Answer: Seven years of satiety belongs to spirituality and not to corporeality. In the beginning of the study a person is happy that he found the friends, the study, the teacher, the goal. All of it illuminates to him and that is why he is happy, full of strength, and ready for all the heroic actions.

But after that he must understand in an emotional manner that his progress depends on connections with the others. Seven years of satiety in exile is not a simple state. He didn’t even enter Egypt. Seven years of satiety begins when a person understands that he must progress and meet all the conditions indicated by the Kabbalists and agree with them.

He is willing to connect with others, willing to study, to disseminate with the understanding that only if he reveals unity inside himself will he find the spiritual world. This means that Joseph brings his brothers, the sons of Jacob, to Egypt.

There is no other way. There are no different paths because there is only one law of equivalence of the Light with the desire. Everything is determined by the four phases of direct light and nothing else can be.

Question: If I am now satisfied with everything and I am in the period of seven years of satiety, what should I do: to want it to be over as fast as possible and that the seven years of hunger will come?

Answer: To yearn only for realization of what is written, that we will find ourselves in our unity that comes in the study, in dissemination, and all of it directed to bring contentment to the Creator.

Think only about the connection, and Joseph will bring you to Egypt. Joseph is the point of connection between us and the Sefira of Yesod. When after all your search and experiences to avoid connection, you will agree and will start to connect, meaning correct your soul, then you will find yourself in Egypt.

The brothers of Joseph come to Egypt only when the famine starts in the land of Canaan; it means that they cannot progress. Each one of them grew, but the future growth is possible only thanks to the connection.

It is similar to what is happening with our world that grew in our ego, achieved full abundance, but it is not understood what to do next. Now only the general connection can save the world, but we see how difficult it is to reach it.

We will need to go through the state of famine in the world, also in the physical aspect, the corporeal, and the spiritual. Then it will be ready to connect. The descent to Egypt is a descent for connection. And this is not desirable for a person’s inner qualities and for all the people. The brothers agree to accept Joseph’s advice but with many doubts; they have many fears.

They don’t want to enter Egypt because it obliges them to be one nation, one group, one family, united, because they will live among the Egyptians, meaning, we must be ready to work so the connection will flow from the desire to bestow.

Yesod is a point that bestows upon Malchut and can bestow only when all the previous qualities and all the Sefirot connect to her. Let’s ask ourselves if we are in such a state or not? Do we want to connect in order to be the bestowers, that this is the field where Malchut will be revealed between us?

It is spoken about the group called “the sons of Jacob” that they go and progress towards bestowal, they don’t want to enter Egypt, and therefore, they must enter such states.

But the goal must remain constant through the whole path, and it is to reach bestowal, mutual connection; in it we will reveal the Creator and then we will feel how to bring Him contentment. And by that we will reach adhesion with Him.

About these questions I can answer only one thing—do the effort in order to exit your Egypt and you will see that everything will succeed.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/9/14, Shamati #54

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The beginning of this post is in: Passover Is A Reminder Of The Future

The maturation of the attribute of Moses in a person and in the nation leads us to a direct confrontation with Pharaoh. The Torah describes these states as the ten plagues of Egypt, the ten plagues of the ego, with the demand: “Let my people go.” They develop on the background of powerlessness and, at the same time, a desperate need to break free.

The Haggadah tells us about this internal night: “How is this night different from all the other nights?” In Egypt we had to exit the quagmire of self-love and we turn and move quickly upward without any power to unite as yet but with the power to escape.

Everyone tries to escape the persecutions, the internal disputes and conflicts. Thus we find ourselves further away from Egypt until we reach Mt. Sinai where we can complete what we have started.

This is how Pharaoh, the ego, pushes us to a new level of love. Eventually, all of humanity will have to rise to this level, but we are the first to do so. It is the lab of the Jewish nation, an essential phase in its formation.
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Question: I would like to ask about how to win a man’s heart, how can I buy his heart?

Answer: A woman begins by letting a man understand that she loves him, admires him for being great, clever, and a hero. She encourages him like a small child.

A child and a grown man are exactly the same when it comes to this. They should constantly be given the feeling that they are strong, great, and clever. The only one in the world!

Thus, a woman ties him to her, like a puppy with a leash. He will follow her wherever she goes because he needs her admiration like a breath of air. This is how you tie a man.

In addition, she begins to gradually tame him, by teaching and showing him in different ways what she likes and what she doesn’t. He is constantly interested in getting a confirmation that she encourages, loves, and appreciates him. So he should understand that he will receive all that only if he treats her the way she likes; I am revealing all the secrets to you now…

A woman begins to convey to a man her impressions of him based on the way he behaves towards her. Thus, she teaches him how to treat her by showing him what pleases her, which in return invokes actions on her part that will be pleasant for him.

Question: How can I make him feel great and at the same time not annul myself? How can I make him feel that he is the king as long as I am the queen?

Answer: This is too difficult and too obliging. A man doesn’t want a queen by his side. She needs to appreciate him without any preconditions, like a mother treats her son. A mother always loves and appreciates her son regardless of how he behaves.

If a woman tells a man that he is great, he is really great and not on condition that she is great. If he is clever, it isn’t because she is clever. Her appreciation of him has to be independent, but no one will tell him the words that she tells him and so he will be tied to her.

Then she begins to set conditions. If he does something wrong she already shows her dissatisfaction and her face saddens. He is very sensitive to her mood since he wants to see her appreciation each time and to feel that he is a man, macho, and if not strong then clever and if not clever then a hero.

If she shows him that he saddens her by his attitude and therefore she cannot appreciate him and expresses her impression like he is used to, he will begin to look for a way to win her admiration in order to keep on receiving her continuous praise.

A man needs compliments more than a woman does. This is how you get him used to the right and good attitude. Then he really gets used to it and treats the woman the way she wants and according to what she likes—proper treatment, respect, and appreciation. He doesn’t actually appreciate her but her attitude towards him. This is how we buy each other’s heart and that’s the only thing we need.

So we don’t need anything special in advance for love to flourish in a family. We simply need to feel good being with one another, to see one another, to touch, to eat the food that the other has prepared, to court one another. Everything else is established as a result of a game.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 6/9/13

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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.

Afterword

Humanity deserves to be united into a single family. At that time all the quarrels and the ill will that stem from divisions of nations and their boundaries shall cease. However, the world requires mitigation, whereby humanity will be perfected through each nation’s unique characteristics. This deficiency is what the Assembly of Israel will complement.
—The Rav Kook, Orot HaRaaiah [Lights of the Raaiah], Shavuot, p 70

It has not been easy to write this book. I have written dozens of books, but none has been as emotionally demanding or intellectually challenging. For many years now, I have known the task that stands before us, but I have always been hesitant about writing directly to my Jewish brethren. I did not wish to be perceived as condescending or overbearing, and being tediously preachy or admonitory is not high on my “To Do” list.

And yet, my Kabbalah studies with Rabash taught me that the direction in which the world is moving is en route to ending in mayhem. That is why the Rabash’s father, Baal HaSulam, as well as his son, were more eager to circulate the ancient wisdom as a cure to humanity’s soaring egotism than any previous Kabbalist.

Baal HaSulam was anxious about the growing global interdependence early in the 1930s, when very few people in the world were even conscious of the process. He knew that it would lead to an irresolvable crisis if humanity did not support that mutual dependence with mutual guarantee, that human nature would not be able to tolerate the contrast between interdependence and mutual aversion.

At the same time, even at that early stage in our globalization, Baal HaSulam realized that the process was irreversible, that because we are parts of a single soul, a single desire, we are inherently connected. He also knew, as did all the sages quoted in this book, that the goal for which we were created was not for people to be strangers and hateful, but to bond and unite through the quality of bestowal.

Today we see how right he was. We are hopelessly ill-connected, and vehemently resentful of it. Our social systems, such as economy, health, and education, assume that ill will is the foundation of human relations, and therefore each entity shores itself up through regulations, legislations, and solicitors.

But this modus operandi is unsustainable. As good families assume goodwill among family members, all members of humankind must learn to trust one another.

However, as shown throughout the book, because our egos constantly evolve and emphasize our uniqueness rather than our unity, we need a method to help us achieve unity atop our disparity, without suppressing or nullifying it. That method is rooted in the spiritual patrimony of our people, and is the gift of the Jews to humanity, the salvation that the nations all await from the Jews.

The gift can be handed down through the wisdom of Kabbalah, through Integral Education, by the means that Baal HaSulam suggested in The Nation, or by any other means that will yield a fundamental change in human nature from divisiveness to unity, from animosity to empathy and care. If we achieve that unity, then the more we differ in our character, the stronger and warmer will be our bond. As Rabbi Nathan Sternhertz described it, “It primarily depends on man, who is the heart of Creation, and on whom everything depends. This is why ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ is the great klal [“rule,” but also “collective”] of the Torah, to include in unity and peace, which is the heart of the vitality, persistence, and correction of the whole of Creation, by people of differing views being included together in love, unity, and peace.”[i]

Indeed, the beauty of our people is in its unity, its cohesion. Our nation began as a group of individuals who shared a common desire: to discover life’s essential force. We discovered that it was, in a word, “love,” and we discovered it because we developed that quality within us. That force of love united us, and in the spirit of love, we sought to share our discovery with anyone who willed it.

Over time, we have lost our connection, first with each other, then with the force we discovered through our bond. But now the world needs us to rekindle that bond, first among us, and subsequently among the whole of humanity.

We are a gifted nation, a nation with the gift of love, which is the quality of the Creator. Receiving this gift is the goal for which humanity was created, and we are the only conduit by which this love can flow to all the nations. Since the dawn of humanity, “never have so few owed so much to so many,” to paraphrase Winston Churchill’s words. And yet, never have so few been capable of giving so much to so many.

Indeed, as Baal HaSulam says, “It is upon the Israeli nation to qualify itself and all the people of the world … to develop until they take upon themselves that sublime work of the love of others, which is the ladder to the purpose of Creation, which is Dvekut [equivalence of form] with Him.”[ii]

[i] Rabbi Nathan Sternhertz, Likutey Halachot [Assorted Rules], “Rules of Tefilat Arvit [Evening Prayer],” Rule no. 4.

[ii] Rav Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), The Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut [Mutual Guarantee],” item 28 (Ashlag Research Institute, Israel, 2009), 393.

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