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New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 6

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Lesson 6: Completing The Circle And Starting Anew

– What have we attained?
– How to be content with our attainment?
– The Covenant

1. This is the meaning of what is written, “You stand today, all of you,” meaning everything you went through, all the states you have experienced—states of Gadlut or states of less than Gadlut, which were considered intermediate or so. You take all those details and you do not compare one degree to another because you do not care for any reward, but only for doing the Creator’s will. … In other words, the state he is in right now is as important to him as when he thought he was in a state of Gadlut. At that time, “The Lord your God makes with you this day.”

This means that then the Creator makes a covenant with him. In other words, precisely when one accepts His work without any conditions and agrees to do the holy work without any reward, which is called “unconditional surrender,” this is the time when the Creator makes a covenant with him.
Writings of Rabash, Vol 1, Article 19 “You Stand Today, All of You”

2. Let him be content with his portion, and give praise and thanksgiving to the Creator for giving him a small part in the service of the king, even if only one minute a day or one minute every couple of days. Let him consider it great treasure.

And even if his deed was very simple, nevertheless he should try to be happy, and he will receive livelihood from the fact that he was allowed to serve the king. And he is obligated to give praise to the Creator in every opportunity.

I heard from Baal HaSulam that by the praise and thanksgiving that one gives the Creator upon approaching the Creator, one continues the Light of Kedusha downward, so that he will feel himself complete, and then it is called that he is in the state of Baruch (blessed), and Baruch adheres to Baruch. But when one keeps himself in the state of accursed, Baruch does not adhere to accursed, as the sages said.
Writings of Baal HaSulam, Vol 2, Letter No. 36

3. The same applies when one feels some closeness to holiness, when he feels joy at having been favored by the Creator. Then, too, one must say that one’s joy is primarily because now there is joy Above, within the Holy Shechina, at being able to bring her private organ near her, and that she did not have to send her private organ away.
And one derives joy from being rewarded with pleasing the Shechina. …
—Shamati 1 “here Is None Else Besides Him”

And that person should be happy, and offer thanksgiving and praise to the Creator for rewarded him with a small grip of Kedusha, regardless of how much he has… Hence he says, the small grip that I have on the Torah and mitzvot is more important than any of the worldly pleasures… and I see that there are people who don’t have it. It follows that he is the one in whom the blessing dwells, and he has a reason to be happy. He sees that the rest of the people are happy and joyful with nonsense while the Creator gave him wisdom and understanding to rejoice in the Creator.
Writings of Rabash, Vol 2, Article 19 “What ‘There Is No Blessing in That which Is Counted’ Means in the Work”

4. …There are many people in the world who were not given the strength to work the holy work even in the simplest of ways, even without the intent and in Lo Lishma (not for Her Name), even in Lo Lishma of Lo Lishma, and even in preparation for the preparation of the clothing of Kedusha (Sanctity), while he was imparted the desire and the thought to nevertheless occasionally do holy work, even in the simplest possible way, if one can appreciate the importance of it, according to the importance that one ascribes to the holy work, to that extent one should give praise and be grateful for it.

This is so because it is true that we cannot appreciate the importance of being able to sometimes keep the Mitzvot of the Creator, even without any intent. In that state one comes to feel elation and joy of the heart.

The praise and the gratitude that one gives for it expand the feelings, and one is elated by every single point in the holy work, and knows whose worker he is, and thus soars ever higher. This is the meaning of what is written, “I thank Thee for the grace that Thou hast made with me,” meaning for the past, and by this one can confidently say, and he does say, “and that Thou will do with me.”
—Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article 26 “One’s Future Depends and Is Tied to Gratitude for the Past

5. Baal HaSulam explained the matter of making a covenant: When two people see that they love each other, they make a covenant between them that their love will always stay. And he asked, “If they love each other and understand that this love will never leave them, why this covenant? Why do they make this covenant, meaning for what purpose?”…

…If there is ever a state where one will have complaints against the other, they will both remember the covenant that they made when love was revealed between them.

It follows that making the covenant is for the future. It is like a contract that they sign that they will not be able to regret when they see that the ties of love are not as they were, that this love gave them great pleasure while they were doing good to each other, but now that love has been corrupted, they are powerless and none can do anything for the other.

But if they do wish to do something for their friends, they must consider the making of the covenant that they had before, and out of that they should rebuild the love. It is like a person who signs a contract with his friend, and the contract connects them so they cannot part from one another.
Writings of Rabash, Vol 1, Article 19 “You Stand Today, All of You”

6. And you, the friends who are here, just as you were previously in a state of love, so you should remain inseparable from now, until the Creator rejoices with you and calls peace upon you and by your merit shall there be peace in the world. “For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, ‘May peace be within you.’”
The Book of Zohar with the Sulam [Ladder] Commentary, “Aharei Mot,” Items 64-65

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New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 5

New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 5

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Lesson 5: From We to One

1. You lack nothing except to go to the field that the Creator blessed, and gather up all the scattered organs, that were scattered away from your soul, and gather them up into one body. In that perfected (complete) body the Creator will instill his Shechinah permanently and unceasingly.
—Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Letter No. 4”

2. Thus, when one completes one’s work in love and bestowal for one’s fellow person and comes to the highest point, one also completes one’s love and bestowal for the Creator. In that state there is no difference between the two, for anything that is outside one’s body, meaning one’s self-interest, is judged equally—either to bestow upon one’s friend or bestow contentment upon one’s Maker.
—Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

3. When does creation find favor with the Creator? When all Israel are bundled together, and there is no jealousy, hatred and competition between them whatsoever, and each one of them thinks only about the correction and well being of his friend. Then the Creator rejoices in His creation, as it is written, the Creator rejoices in His works. And this explanation is in reference to “Love thy friend as thyself, I am the Lord (YHVH)” to tell us that if we love our friend as ourselves, then the Creator will be in your midst and love both of you.
In Remembrance of Miriam,  Chapter 11

4. It is said in Midrash Tanhuma that “Israel will not be redeemed until they are all one society [… ] when they are united, they receive the face of Divinity.” I presented the words of the Midrash so that you don’t think that the issue of a group, which is love of friends, relates to Hassidism. Rather, it is the teaching of our sages, who saw how necessary was the uniting of hearts into a single group for the reception of the face of Divinity.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 2, “Letter No. 34”

5. It is written, “and the people camped as one man in one heart” meaning that they all had one goal, which is, to benefit the creator. And we must understand: How can it be ‘as one man in one heart’, since we know that the sages said, “as their faces are not alike, likewise their views (opinions) also are not alike,” so how could it be “one man in one heart”?

Answer – if we are saying that each one cares for his own needs, it is impossible to be “as one man,” for they are not the same. However, when everyone annulled their authority and their only concern was to benefit the Creator, there were no longer any personal cares, since all their individual cares were annulled and thus all entered into oneness, unity.
Writings of Rabash, “Letter No. 42”

6. The essence of keeping the Torah is in behinat haratzon (the will) in unity. Hence, each one must be included in the Assembly of Israel as one big collective. Hence, when (Israel) received the Torah they immediately became Arevim one for the other in order to be incorporated into one desire, so that they were all mutually accountable one for the other, since they were all equally important, and as one. And precisely when each were responsible for the other, which is behinat Achdut (unity), they were able to keep the Torah. And without this (condition), it is impossible to keep the Torah in any way, since the essence of Torah and love is in the will, when each is content with his friend, and there is no variance between them since all are incorporated into one desire, and thus they are able to be included in the upper will, which is the purpose of unity.
—Rabbi Nathan of Breslev, Likutei Halachot, “Laws of Arvut

7. As we know, “The Creator is One and Israel are one,” therefore they are adhered to the Creator, because it is the pleasing to be adhered one with the other, and when will that be?

When Israel is assembled and adhered in perfect unity, they are considered as one, and the Creator dwells among them, who is One. This is the meaning of the verse, “and you are adhered,” namely that you are adhered to each one and hold on to each other, then “you are all alive,” when they are united as one. Thus it is good and pleasant to be adhered one with the other, and the Creator dwells in their midst As One.
—Moshe Chaim Ephraim, “Banner over the Camp of Ephraim,” Parashat VaEtchanan

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Rational Consumption In A Harmonious Society

Laitman_120Everything starts with education and information, even including the new economy. But economists want to keep the old method and continue the same life as before without paying attention to changes in people. But you cannot fix the economic crisis like that.

First of all, it is necessary to educate people to prepare them for the new stage of human development, life in a harmonious society in which each one rationally gets what is necessary. We need to agree to sustainable consumption and then the entire society will achieve balance.

Economic development is not in that there are 500 kinds of cheese today, and tomorrow another two hundred will be added. Our lives must be rational, and rational consumption means that we don’t need anything that is superfluous, and we want to examine ourselves, the society, our families and all of our lives from the point of view of maximum benefit.

But this does not mean that it is necessary to extract all of the nature’s resources and obligate a person to work many hours per day until old age ruining his entire life.

A person needs spare time and time for educating his or her children. Small children shouldn’t be thrown into child care from seven in the morning until seven in the evening without seeing their parents, and when the parents take them home in the evening, they no longer have the energy or time to be with them.

Question: But people don’t feel miserable. Statistical surveys show that most people are satisfied with their lives.

Answer: People haven’t learned anything else and are unfamiliar with any other life. They are confused. People live the way that they are taught, and they get nice, statistical graphs. However, this is talking about the essence of life.

The world is entering a crisis that will bring absolute disorder, and the economists cannot continue to work by the old methods. Just as a hundred years ago, people worked ten to twelve hours per day, they do so today as well, even with all the technological advancement.

So, how can the person be happy with a life like this? In the past, he just worked with machines in factories and now he works with computers, but in principle nothing has changed. He was at work all day and didn’t see the children, but at least his wife didn’t work and stayed at home with the children. But today even women are forced to work all day.

Question: For the modern person, work takes the most important place in life. If we ask a young woman who her husband is, she immediately answers and says his name and his position at work. Each one evaluates himself according to his job and salary.

Answer: This is the result of the influence of the environment on the person, from Hollywood movies, commercials, and all media. A person begins to look at life through glasses like these. We never have educated people. We only give people toys, mobile phones and computers, and we turn them into consumers to help the development of the economy. People only work and buy, work and buy, and in this way they help someone get rich.

Question: But people don’t know what rational consumption is.

Answer: So, first and foremost, we require education and information. Nothing else needs to be changed. Just educate people, and first and foremost, the economists.
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From KabTV’s “The Solution” 5/24/15

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New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 4

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Lesson 4: From Me to We

1. There is indeed only one soul in the world. That same soul exists in all the children of Israel, complete in each and every one, as in Adam ha Rishon, since the spiritual is indivisible and cannot be cut—which is rather a trait of corporeal things.

Yet, saying that there are 600,000 souls and sparks of souls appears as though it is divided by the force of the body of each person…

For this reason, two discernments were made in the corporeal body. In the first discernment, one feels one’s soul as a unique organ, and does not understand that this is the whole of Israel.

In the second discernment, the true Light of the soul of Israel does not shine on him in all its illuminating force, but only partially, by the measure he has purified himself by returning to the collective.

The sign for the body’s complete correction is when one feels that one’s soul exists in the whole of Israel, in each and every one of them, for which he does not feel himself as an individual, for one depends on the other. At that time, he is complete, flawless, and the soul truly shines on him in its fullest power, as it appeared in Adam haRishon.
—Writings of Baal HaSulam, “600,000 Souls”

2. A man of Israel who desires to who desires to attain the Light of Life in Truth, must agree to plant himself in the Assembly of Israel with all his heart and with all his strength and might, physically and spiritually.
—Rav Kook, “Whisper to Me the Secret of HaVaYaH”

3. One must not exclude oneself from the assembly, or pray for himself, not even to bring contentment to the Creator, but always pray for the entire assembly (collective), since the one who excludes himself and asks only for himself does not build, but rather, he brings destructions upon his soul… And one must be connected to the assembly of Israel with all his strength, in all his requests from the Creator, whether in prayer or in the work, that he may be included in the root of all Israel.
—Baal HaSulam, Pri Chacham on the Torah, “It is not Yet Time to Gather the Sheep”

4. My teacher of blessed memory warned me and all the friends that were with him in the society, that prior to the morning prayer we should accept upon ourselves the positive commandment to “love your friend as yourself” with the intention to love all Israel as our own soul. And thus his prayer will rise together, with the prayer of all Israel, and achieve the correction above.

And concerning the love of friends among us, each and every one of us must include himself and feel as if he is a limb inside of his friend. And my teacher, blessed be his memory, warned me greatly, concerning this matter.
—Haim Vitall, “Gate of Reincarnations,” Introduction #38

5. Advice and council to serve the Creator is to unite our hearts with the Love of Friends, to connect each with the other in love and One Heart, and to serve the Creator together… We need to connect with each other and lock our hearts together, that we may be as one bundle, to serve the Creator with our whole heart.
The Light and the Sun, “The Secrets of Rosh Hashanah”

6. The advice for one to be able to increase his strength in the rule, “Love thy friend,” is love of friends. If every one is nullified before his friend and mingles with him, they become one mass, where all the little parts that want the love of others unite in a collective force that consists of many parts. And when he has great strength, he can execute the love of others.
Writings of Rabash, Vol 1, “According to What Is Explained about Love Thy Friend as Thyself”

7. One must know that love is bought by actions. By giving his friends gifts, each gift that he gives to his friend is like an arrow and a bullet, making a hole in his friend’s heart. And although his friend’s heart is like a rock, still, each bullet makes a hole. And the many holes join into a hollow into which the love of the giver of presents enters.

And the warmth of the love draws to him his friend’s sparks of love, and then the two loves weave into a garment of love that covers both of them. This means that one love surrounds and envelops the two, and they naturally become one person because the clothing that covers them both is a single garment. Hence, both are annulled.
—Rabash, Dargot HaSulam, “Man as a Whole”

8. And once I have acquired this above-mentioned clothing, sparks of love promptly begin to shine within me. The heart begins to long to unite with my friends, and it seems to me that my eyes see my friends, my ears hear their voices, my mouth speaks to them, the hands embrace, the feet dance in a circle, in love and joy together with them, and I transcend my corporeal boundaries. I forget the vast distance between my friends and me, and the outstretched land for many miles will not stand between us.
It is as though my friends are standing right within my heart and see all that is happening there, and I become ashamed of my petty acts against my friends. Then, I simply exit the corporeal vessels and it seems to me that there is no reality in the world except my friends and I. After that, even the “I” is cancelled and is immersed, mingled in my friends, until I stand and declare that there is no reality in the world—only the friends.
Writings of Rabash, Vol 2, “Letter No. 8”

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