Question: What’s your opinion about Albert Einstein, was he a great physicist, a philosopher, or maybe a Kabbalist?

Answer: I would say that Einstein is somewhat of a Kabbalist and that’s why he introduced the concept of relativity, more precisely  relative to the observer, a person, and thus introduced into science, into the world, the concept of the relativity of our perceptions, knowledge, and life.

It all depends on the observer from his or her properties—and this is exactly the Kabbalistic evaluation of man on the person himself with respect to the absolute, the Creator, the property of complete communication (bestowal of love), all the (opposite) parts, and the properties of nature.

And besides, everything we perceive is perceived by the person, in relation to the person, and as if what exists outside of a person doesn’t matter. The wisdom of Kabbalah speaks about what we achieve, and so, specifically, it is the science and foundation of all sciences.
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Comment: After extensive research, scientists in the UK discovered that a high level of income doesn’t make people happy. Results were published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Answer: Although there is a saying that “money can’t buy happiness” and people understand it, everybody wants money.

If you ask a modern person what he wants more, money or happiness, he will probably reply: “Money. Once I have money, I will buy happiness.”

The ego, which is now being revealed in the whole of humanity, needs nothing but money. In the past people were less egoistic, they had other inclinations, their ego didn’t require such a thorough satiation.

Comment: So you in a way refute this research, which says that people regard happiness as family, friends, and children?

Answer: They came to this conclusion after thoroughly checking the ability to buy everything and seeing that it doesn’t work.

But we haven’t reached our absolute development yet. We are at its final stage, which isn’t over yet. Humanity already realizes that money doesn’t bring happiness and that ultimately happiness is more important than money.

But on the other hand, if a feeling of happiness is not built on any material basis, it is a false feeling. It’s like taking a drug: “I am happy.” “What’s the matter?! Why is that?” – “Happy.”

You received some kind of injection and the enjoyment overwhelms you, doesn’t let you move, because you don’t feel any suffering or emptiness, you don’t need to yearn for something, do anything. You even can’t understand the sufferings and desires of others; you can’t be connected with anyone! Like an idiot, you simply stand in the middle of the world and feel good.

Question: Does it mean that happiness stalls development?

Answer: Of course! Had the greatest artists, writers, or musicians not suffered, had they not been internally unhappy—whether or not they had a piece of bread or not—if they weren’t unhappy in their inner search, in suffering, would they created anything? Never!

Happiness lies not in the definition that we begin to ascribe to him immediately. Happiness can only be felt over the sorrow, only above what is hard to find, above suffering, when you strive for—and achieve, strive—and reach! When you desire—and then achieve, desire—and then achieve—this isn’t happiness!

Happiness includes simultaneously both suffering and a pleasure above it. This state can only be attained in the wisdom of Kabbalah, when emptiness doesn’t get filled but builds a fulfillment above it. Both emptiness and fulfillment exist constantly! Let’s say I long for something, and through this longing I feel pleasure, fulfillment.

Happiness, if we define it correctly, from the Kabbalistic point of view, in its true form, is a state of absolute unhappiness and absolute happiness at the same time—emptiness and fulfillment, which don’t annul each other.

And then you don’t need to cover it with money or anything else because all your empty spaces are getting filled and stay empty at the same time. For example, you eat something—and all the time want it, drink something —and all the time want it, see something—and all the time want it. It means that the pleasures don’t end, but only grows upward, and to this extent the emptiness grows downwards!

This is the wisdom of Kabbalah! The science of obtaining true happiness. And the feeling of endless happiness brings you to the sense of eternity!
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 3/27/16

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Question: The Communist Party in China conducts a yearly educational campaign for members of the party who number around 88 million.

In support of the party it is said that, “it is up to the members of the party to think and act in full accord with the policy guidelines of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. They must work tenaciously to serve the people and contribute their share to social progress and economic development.”

Will they be able to hold and maintain this line in the new world?

Answer: The point is not whether they will be able to hold onto this line or not. Rather it is that there is no alternative. What kind of alternative can they show to America, Europe, or Russia? There aren’t any examples in the world that China can follow. And why would it change itself? A traditional attitude toward the people, toward themselves, and toward the nation normally fits into this infrastructure.

Comment: That is, this is a method for freezing what works according to the principle that one shouldn’t touch something that works.

Answer: That is the best thing. It is impossible otherwise. They are leading very correctly. The Chinese are serious and pragmatic people for which there is only this life in its most material and normal sustainable way. That is what they are trying to implement.

Question: On the other hand, it seems that their principles are very close to the principles of the wisdom of Kabbalah. Essentially in what way do they differ?

Answer: I do not believe that their policies are built on an aspiration to unite the people.

Comment: But in the accepted document it is said that they must work tenaciously to serve the people and contribute their part to social and economic progress.

Answer: This is said in the interior for the Communist Party, not for the people, and therefore the people are not engaged with this. The people simply know that they must exist in these frameworks, otherwise it will go out of control. The Communist Party of China is a very serious purposeful organization.

Naturally, there is no connection with Kabbalistic principles through which people realize the need for unity above egoism, which is what devours them and separates them. This still doesn’t exist in China because their egoism is found on a very low level. So the residents of the nation are still far from sensing a need to realize Kabbalistic principles.

I do not believe that China will independently join those nations for whom the wisdom of Kabbalah is imperative for realizing the unity of the people.

Question: But at some point they will join the others. After all, isn’t it said, “…for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them” (Jeremiah 31:33)?

Answer: Right, but it depends by what means. In the meantime, they have no general, balanced, or vast ego that requires healing and repair with the help of the Upper Light.

Question: Who is standing first in the chain of correction?

Answer: The Jews throughout the world are first. This cannot be taken from us. We are the most egoistic people in this world; in this we are ahead of all of humanity. And after us are all the developed nations in the world, the Europeans and the Americans.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 3/1/16

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New Life 537 – Jewish Culture: Coming Out Of Egypt
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

What does Kabbalah teach us about the ego and unfounded hatred, which are naturally imprinted in us? How do they trap us inside evil and how can we become free of this slavery?

Abraham’s time is the beginning of the era of the Patriarchs, and after the exodus from Egypt, it is the beginning of the era of the sons.

Abraham taught us how to build connections above our egoism and unfounded hatred—”Love will cover all transgressions.”
Even in the family or in politics love should be above any disagreements there may be.

Egypt symbolizes the period of our enslavement to the ego. The decision to come out of the ego comes after the plagues.
Pesach (Passover) is a birth. Egypt was the birthplace of the nation, the birth of a new world view through connection. A person is a slave inside his ego and outside the ego he is free. This is the whole story of the exodus from Egypt.

Initially you examine yourself and how the ego manages you in every way. It is a phase of self-recognition. The ego seems to be in our favor, but in fact, it ruins our life. If your neighbor buys a new car, you are sad because your ego suffers. We will be able to live a good life only when we learn to relate to everyone as to our family. This is the whole idea of Passover.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 537 – Jewish Culture: Coming Out Of Egypt,” 3/22/15

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Preparation for the Lesson

Shamati #159, “And It Came to Pass in the Course of Those Many Days”

Writings of Rabash, “Rungs of the Ladder,” Article 15

 The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, “Shmot,” “The King of Egypt Died,” Item 340

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 6, Part 15, Item 7

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Question: If everyone around us represent the Creator, when a person close to us hurts us mentally and insults us, is that useful for us? What does it give a person other than emotional pain?

Answer: As a general rule you should write off all pain within yourself. Suppose that someone hurts you. You should try to forgive him, especially if this is someone close. Try rising above the situation and transform the offender from an enemy into a friend. You should transform everything into something good. In this way a person changes himself and begins to adjust himself correctly toward the world that is always good and is filled with only one higher Light.

If a person behaves like this in his relationships with people, then gradually he begins to perceive his environment correctly and through it see one great pleasure—the Light that is filling all of creation.

Question: Are you saying that all who condemn do so with their own defect (Kiddushin 70b), and if I have a negative feeling from someone, I am to blame?

Answer: Certainly. If you are feeling bad now, it is only because you are bad. There is nobody to blame but yourself.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 1/31/16

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Comment: Full of energy, 92-year-old Shimon Peres was interviewed by the paper Le Figaro in which he said: “We are witnessing the transition from an old world to a new world—the era of territoriality and conquest is coming to an end. We now have a global economy, but there is no global government yet. In the new world it is impossible to rule, you should serve.”

At the end of the interview Peres said: “People often ask me how I manage to stay so young. The answer is simple: count how many things you have managed to do and how much is left unrealized. If you have more plans than memories, you are young.”

Answer: That’s true, Peres said that very nicely. The question is what’s next? We are nearing a point in which 99% of the world population will live in great poverty. People will not be able to work because robots will do everything, and so they will only be provided with the basic necessities. A dozen rich people who control the world will begin to look for a way of cleansing our planet of poor people as quickly as possible, since why do we need people who live like that?

This stage is necessary so that people will see what egoism brings. Where is the freedom, equality, brotherhood, and happiness? Where is education and upbringing?

We have lived in the best period in human history which we can call the frozen era both in Russia and the West. Even the US realizes today that it is not going to be the same US it was in the past. We have undergone a rotting process.

Egoism has tempted, confused, and put us to sleep in order to show us that it is like a snake that devours itself. In other words, egoism has pulled us to a nice, comfortable bourgeois life. And now all this goes to purchasing drugs, unemployment, emptiness, and the awareness of our worthlessness of our existence.

Here to replace it will come more and more terrorism, a terrible state when one neither lives nor dies. Only later will humanity understand that unification above egoism is the only way we can exist.

Question: Who do you think can lead the world to unity? What attributes should such a leader have?

Answer: This person should feel the understanding of the essence of the world, the creation, its goal, its development, and trend; he should understand the general law of nature and where all this is headed.

Such a leader should feel that nature is pushing us to unite and should look for ways by which we can unite despite our ego. He should understand that the main thing is educating human society, education that leads to unity.

It won’t take long. Any leader would be able to do it if he only wants to take on this mission and introduce a universal method of education to society. People will study in their spare time. People will receive a salary and engage only in that.

This kind of education will lead only to unity by examples and exercises explaining how we should unite. Thus we will see immediate changes in society. It will be an inner revolution.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 3/31/16

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Comment: The Chief Rabbi of Israel announced that we should deport all the gentiles to Saudi Arabia, they have no place in Israel.

Answer: As a Kabbalist, I totally agree with him. There is no room in Israel for gentiles; there is only room for Jews since the term the “Land of Israel” refers to the desire that is directed straight to the Creator, to the attribute of love and bestowal. The word “land – Eretz” refers to a desire – Ratzon, and the name “Israel” stems from the words “Yashar-El,” which mean straight to the Creator.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, the terms “Torah, Israel, and Jew” are states in our world, the upper world, etc. A Jew is a person who yearns for the love of others and a gentile is a person who has no such yearning but only egoistic self-love.

Therefore according to the actual definition, there is only room for Jews in the Land of Israel, which means for those who feel the love for others, and they can be Italians, Mexicans, French, anyone. When a person begins to take others into account, which means that he transcends the internal psychological barrier, and they become close to him and not strangers, he becomes a Jew. This country is called the Land of Israel, and only our desires or the person who has corrected his desires from hatred to love, which means that he has been converted, is a Jew. The term “Jew” or “Hebrew – Ivrit” stems from the Hebrew word “Ever – to transcend,” from hate to love. All of humanity should reach this feeling of love, not only those who were born to a Jewish mother.

Jews who were born to a Jewish mother have a method of transcending from egoism to altruism, from hatred to love, which they attained in the past. Then they fell from love to hatred and have been in the state of hatred for 2,000 years. Therefore, they have to come back to life today and show the whole world how humanity rises from egoism, from hating others to love.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 3/28/16

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Comment: Scientists from the Universities of Melbourne and California have proven that unduly risky behavior is contagious. We see how much gambling, reckless driving on the highways, and even terrorist organizations attract many people because the environment influences us very strongly.

Answer: The idea is not in the influence of the environment, but that the person comes in contact with the unknown in this manner. He feels that there is something unknown that manages him; there is some kind of force found above him. In the monotony of daily life he cannot come in contact with that power. It is only if he tries to break through to it that he can come under its influence and feel a connection with it.

This is a very internal and strong need. What is gambling? If I were to know from the start the benefit or the loss, then this would become a business. The game lies in the fact that I do not know the outcome, and it is my pleasure, and it is desirable, because when I climb over the unknown, I rise above egoism and begin to feel the force of that is above us—the force that controls our world.

This is what throws people into the arms of gambling and terrorist organizations. I am not talking about those who are attracted to a future “paradise” after death, but specifically about those who are looking for adventure or daring scientists who conduct experiments on themselves, etc.

But all of this is very small. A miserable man has no other way to connect with the higher management, a higher purpose, to rise above himself, to escape from himself. What kind of benefit does a person derive from Bungee jumping?

I had an acquaintance who loved jumping without a parachute very much and his friend had to catch him in the air. This gave him inner satisfaction. Fear prevents regular people from doing this, while he explained everything very simply, “I get the pleasure that is higher than the fear; I cannot stop myself!”

Question: Is it possible to direct such people to search for spirituality?

Answer: This is a problem, because seeking spirituality places a person in situations that he creates with his own effort. When he understands his dependence on the upper force, he discovers these states, and then the higher power is revealed to him. But this happens in a very complex inner struggle with serious preparation.

This is not a breakthrough, it is not an adventure; it is life. When the person lives his dependence, he raises himself to the level of the managing upper force and begins to work in partnership with it. Then a “second wind” develops in him. He is found simultaneously in the present, the past, and the future. Everything merges into one single whole. The feeling that fills him removes all impressions of time, movement and location and he feels that he flows permanently in this state.

So when you look at the childish attempts to obtain a “grab a tiger by the tail” feeling, you  realize that people so want to fill themselves for a moment, while this feeling may be tested constantly. In spirituality it is possible to feel this sensation permanently.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 3/20/16

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