Make Sure That It Never Happens Again

Question: What does it mean to maintain high human spirits even during such suffering as happened during the Holocaust?

Answer: High human spirits means to be one man, Adam, in total unity. Adam HaRishon is a system that connects together all people in the world so that we feel dependent on each other and connected by mutual guarantee.

Accordingly, we receive education and develop our relationships until we discover that our world is filled with the force of good, not the force of evil.

But this is only on condition that we strive to exist within this force. If we do so, a good future awaits us. However, if we don’t do it, then I am afraid that we will have a period that will be no less difficult than during the past Holocaust. We need to understand that the laws of nature, that don’t make concessions, operate here.

Baal HaSulam writes that Nazism isn’t a German invention, but a natural form of development of the egoistic society. After socialism, comes Nazism. Today, the whole of Europe is socialistic, and America is becoming more and more socialistic. Therefore, with a slight delay after Europe, it will come to Nazism as well. It will happen very quickly.

Humanity is coming to the peak of hatred for each other because Jews who have the method of connection don’t realize it and are not passing it to the world. Because of this, the enitre world is drowning in blatant, outright hatred, uniting against the Jews.

Where once only Germany acted against the Jews and the rest of the countries remained neutral, today, such an attitude will be revealed in the entire world. There will not be a single nation left, not a person, who would not hate Jews, Israel, and the people of Israel.

Question: Why does the force of the good connection exist only in Jews?

Answer: Jews acquired this force during their history, starting from receiving the wisdom of Kabbalah, and implementing it on themselves in times of the first and second temple. It is written that we must pass this force of connection to all of humanity when they require it.

Humanity has been in need of it for a long time already, and we must work on this. However, the people of Israel—who so far are deaf to their mission and engaged in all sorts of material games and values that are not at all in the spirit of our people—are called to be spiritual leaders of humanity and bring light to the other nations. This is a very dangerous situation, and we don’t have time for contemplation.

Of course, we are impressed by examples of courage and overcoming that were displayed by Jews during the Holocaust. However, today, we must talk not about that, not about how we managed to go through such trials and preserved human dignity even in the concentration camps. We need to think about how we can make sure that it never happens again! After all, this is the most relevant question of our time.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 4/28/16

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Question: Following the earthquake in Ecuador, the government imposed a tax upon all the citizens that is designed to cover the damages amounting to three billion dollars. The citizens of the nation who possess capital of more than a million dollars will be required to pay the nation nearly 1% of their assets.

Citizens with income of a thousand dollars per month will pay one day’s wages, someone who earns two thousand dollars a month will pay two days’ wages, and so on. In practice, the president of the country has imposed a kind dues.

How do you relate to equality like this?

Answer: There is no doubt that the nation needs help to recover after such a powerful earthquake. But they have to deal with it. They chose the right method because everyone was harmed.

South America is a unique area; the immigrant spirit and the spirit of the Indians are still felt there; they are characterized by a feeling of unity. They relate to each other with great feeling, with understanding, wholeheartedly, because they are not completely damaged by egoism and the modern world.

I think that this will help them. When a problem arises and you begin to take care of it seriously, then you don’t immerse yourself in those illnesses in which the whole world is immersed, but are involved in curing the illness.

So they will rebuild and it will be good for them. The implication of the terrible earthquake is that it will bring them a better future. It will strengthen and unite them.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 4/21/16

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Question: How is it possible to integrate the physical and spiritual worlds?

Answer: The two worlds are integrated in a person.

Question: I am a doctor and relieve the suffering of patients. Since suffering pushes a person toward understanding the meaning of life and his egoistic nature, am I violating the thought of the Creator in this way?

Answer: It is said that permission has been given to the doctor to heal. The fact that you are relieving the suffering of patients entered the thought of the Creator from the beginning.

Question: Why do they say that thought is physical?

Answer: It is precisely because thought builds the physical world for us. Our entire world is a single thought. Even astronomers and cosmologists attest to feeling that nature and space are thought. Everything around us is thought.

Question: How can I love what someone else loves? Do I just ask him, or do I give him what he loves?

Answer: This is a more complicated matter. First, it is up to you to make Tzimtzum Aleph (the first restriction) on yourself, meaning that you don’t take your feelings into account at all. Then you already begin to receive your feelings from above Tzimtzum Aleph. And then you begin to feel the others within them.

Question: Why isn’t it possible for a person to remember his previous lives, or do they not exist?

Answer: In fact, there are no past lives. Basically these are impressions that have been inscribed so that we will finally reach the right decision.

Question: How is it possible to explain the expression, “The Creator said”; how can He speak if this is a force?

Answer: This is an expression of His desire. The desire of the Creator is revealed when the creature comes to resemble Him.

Question: What is the thread that joins the physical and spiritual world?

Answer: The connection or the characteristic that connects the two worlds is called Zeir Anpin. It serves as a conduit through which energy passes from the upper world to the lower world and from the lower world to the upper world. The upper world is Bina, the lower world is Malchut, and Zeir Anpin is found between them.

Question: Must I get used to the thought that my “self” is not my body, or should I wait until I will feel this clearly?

Answer: This must be discovered inside of you. There is no need to think about and imagine it. If you want to get the right intention, it is up to you to work only in a group according to the method in our workshops. Then you will feel advancement.

Question: Why did I have less resistance when I was exposed to religion for the first time in contrast to the wisdom of Kabbalah?

Answer: Religion is an egoistic method that “closes” the person in our world. It directs a person to work for its sake and to attain the upper world after death. Kabbalah believes that the religions, first Judaism, after that Christianity, and then Islam, don’t allow a person to develop properly. The religions were created by people following an egoistic attitude and interpretation of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Question: If a person doesn’t discover the sixth sense in his lifetime, must he be born again on the face of the Earth?

Answer: Baal HaSulam wrote that we are already in the period of the Last Generation. It is up to us to invest the maximal amount of effort, and then only a significant ascent into the upper world is ahead for us. I invite everyone to join; we will help each other and rise together.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 2/21/16

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Question: China has defined the minimum size of a bribe for which the death penalty is given: 3 million Yuan or 463,000 US dollars. In accordance with their gradation of the amount of money, defined as “large,” “huge,” and “enormous,” the court sentences various terms of imprisonment or the death penalty.
Does the Torah permit the death penalty?

Answer: Yes. There are four types of death penalties mentioned in the Torah: burning, strangling, stoning, and decapitation. These all stem from spiritual roots. In ancient times, death sentences were so rare that it was considered an unusual event. We can count very few cases in which Jewish people were sentenced to death during the thousand years before the nation of Israel received the Torah. During the 70 years there was one death sentence and this period was considered barbaric.

In those days the Sanhedrin made the final decision regarding a punishment. But the case was heard over many years, discussed so thoroughly for so long that individuals would die, and then the case was closed. However, these laws are hardly suitable for other nations because the Jewish nation is based on spiritual principles.

I don’t know if the world needs a death sentence today, but I have no doubt that there is a need for compulsory education all over the world. Humanity is affected by egoism that develops like a virus and infects everyone, from small children to the elderly. We are not aware of the many layers of the egoistic membrane that are wrapped around each of us. We don’t feel one another and treat each other according to values that are totally incompatible with the right desirable communication between people. The world is deteriorating, and if we don’t start some kind of spiritual human social educational, it will become totally barbaric. The whole problem is us.

Question: How can we reeducate all of humanity that is now 7-8 billion people? It sounds like a fantasy.

Answer: It is impossible to educate seven billion people, but it is possible to reeducate the 3-4 million people living in Israel. If the Jews really understood that the fate of the world depended on them and that they are facing the threat of annihilation, the threat of another Holocaust, all our problems would be solved. I have been saying that for many years, but lately global problems are increasingly manifesting: problems in UNESCO, in the UN, the elections in the US, problems in the EU common market, in Russia, in Syria, and everywhere.

We need to finally open our eyes and see that we are responsible for all these terrible egoistic revelations. We have to explain this to the Jewish people because the whole world will turn to us and demand an answer, demand compensation for the centuries they have suffered as a result of our lack of understanding and our reluctance to fulfill our mission.

As for the death sentence in China, it is also related to us. All the evil in the world on the levels of the still, vegetative, and animate nature, and the human level results from the behavior of the Jewish people, and so the world is beginning to turn to us through its subconscious hatred toward us, demanding that we reexamine our conduct. We should take things seriously, and then things will be better for us and for the whole world! There is no other way.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 4/19/16

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New Life 724 – Holocaust Remembrance Day
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

What is the soul-searching that we must do on Holocaust Remembrance Day, how do we make sure that an event like this will not return, and why is the attention of the world turned specifically toward us today?

Over time, the attitude toward Holocaust Remembrance Day has eroded because “there was a decree about the dead that they should be forgotten from the heart” (Pesachim 54b). The attitude in the world today toward Israel is reminiscent of the situation that existed 80-90 years ago, and it is up to us to prevent another Holocaust. Everything revolves around the people of Israel; we are the center of humanity because the method for the correction of humanity is in our hands.

Abraham taught the general rule, “And you shall love your friend as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), kindness and oneness. Until the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) we respected these values. The goal of creation is to bring all of humanity to become a single integral system. The people of Israel must lead the human species to a better life and a spiritual height. Humanity is demanding the method of correction from the people of Israel so they don’t appreciate anything else that we have brought to the world.

On Holocaust Remembrance Day it is up to us to take account of what we must do so that the Holocaust will not be repeated. It is up to us to correct the human rift, the hatred that dominates everyone, and the wisdom of Kabbalah teaches the method of how to do this. We require broad learning, a general education for all people and the world so we will understand the goal of existence. The people of Israel are required to become the pioneers in human development toward this goal. If we begin to connect, we will advance along with the good forces, explaining to the world what our role is. They will then support us. The wisdom of Kabbalah is intended for everyone, secular, religious, Jewish, or non-Jewish, this is a universal method of correction. It is up to the nation of Israel to provide an example of connection in which the Creator, the general power of love, is revealed. Instead of dwelling on the past, it is worthwhile to establish conversation circles in which we clarify how we will advance toward an enlightened world.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 724 – Holocaust Remembrance Day,” 4/28/16

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Preparation for the Lesson

Topic of the Lesson: “Counting the Omer (Sefirat HaOmer)”

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts

Writings of Baal HaSulam “Speech on the Completion of The Zohar“

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Question: The Graduate Student Association of New York University voted to support the resolution to impose a boycott on Israel. This resolution calls for the Student Union and all of its sponsors to end all ties with Tel Aviv University. Can this boycott be stopped?

Answer: It depends on us, the students of the wisdom of Kabbalah, on how much we succeed in explaining to everyone what the mission of the people of Israel is, why we exist as a nation and as a people. The role of the people of Israel is to bring humanity to the goal of creation, to the goal of the development of civilization. Those students who rise up against us as well as the entire world must discover and know this. It is up to us to say this with a “Voice of Voices” (Berachot 15b), in every street, on every stage, and in all of the communications media.

Unfortunately, we cannot even reach the Jewish people yet, all the more so everyone else; so this kind of threatening news will continue to reach us daily from all over the world, and gradually the “siege” will begin to tighten around us in the same manner but with different configurations.

The student boycott will be replaced by a technology boycott, an industrial boycott, an international trade boycott, the buying and selling of goods and so forth. But today no nation can exist in isolation, just as a family cannot exist alone without buying everything it needs at a store. So we have no choice. We must accelerate and rapidly catch up with the time that we have lost.

Jews all over the world must understand that the Creator is the one who is “narrowing the ring” around us, pushing us to carry out our mission. It is up to us to show all of humanity how to unite correctly for the sake of the world. Humanity can unite around the boycott against us, while on the contrary, we can come together if we begin to teach them about the right mutual connection between them. There are a total of two possibilities for the world. They can unite against us or unite with us in order to rise to the next higher level of human development.

The Jews cannot escape their obligation. We must carry out our mission because otherwise the boycott will become an “iron belt” tightening around us, a locked fortress that is being attacked from within and without. And we cannot hold our position because this is a “war” against the Creator.

Our role is not just to survive like all the rest of the peoples, but to show them the way toward the Creator. The Torah was given to us for this, and all the peoples subconsciously expect salvation from us. This is the reason they blame us for all of their problems.

We, the Kabbalists, must try to carry out our mission quickly with regard to the Jewish people; the Jewish people must realize their mission with regard to the nations of the world, and everyone together must carry out the general mission of humanity with regard to the Creator. Everything is realized in a single chain.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 4/25/16

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Question: When does the soul appear in a person? Is it during birth or during its conception?

Answer: A person’s soul appears during his spiritual conception when he begins to fulfill his Reshimo (his spiritual gene). A person’s first ascent above his ego and his inclusion in the upper world is called the point of incorporation in the upper world. Then the upper world becomes a womb and the root of his soul, the Reshimo, becomes a sperm that takes its place in the upper world and the conception of the soul begins.

Question: Is there a father and mother, etc. in the spiritual world?

Answer: Everything that is depicted in the form of objects in our world, like a mother, a father and people, is actually depicted in us by the upper forces because in spirituality everything exists in the form of forces, while in our world everything is revealed as objects.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 2/21/16

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Torah “Numbers,” 30:35: Whoever [namely the blood avenger] kills a person, based on the testimony of witnesses, he shall slay the murderer. A single witness may not testify against a person so that he should die.

The Torah is the basis even for the present laws. The first purchase and sale contracts come from Abraham, who purchased the land for the Mearat a-Machpelah cave for his tomb. Under the contract with Hebron, he paid 400 shekels of silver for it.

Question: What does it mean, “based on the testimony of witnesses, he shall slay the murderer”?

Answer: Evidence in court can be based on the statements from at least two witnesses, unrelated to the suspect.

Therefore, each one of them was interrogated separately, confused on purpose, and their statements were compared in order to precisely determine that both witnesses were not connected to each other in any way and that there was no relationship, mutual interest, or agreement between them. Only after this was it possible to accept their statements.

A witness is one who saw with his own eyes what happened, not just heard something.

In spirituality “to see the killer” means to reach the level of Hochma, that is the level of complete awareness of what is happening inside me.

When I see how the egoism in me destroys the good inclination that would wish to lead me forward and doesn’t allow me to do a good action, then I assess it sanely. After all, only by rising to the level of Hochma can I turn against egoism.

If, except from the present state, I have one more state, one more witness (that is, I saw something, discovered something inside me) then, for the first time, it is not enough for me. If for the second time I will see the same phenomenon and will grasp it in my mind, that’s it, it is enough in order to eradicate it in me.

Therefore I have to see the killer at least twice, twice to rise to the level of Hochma.

Only then will I have strength and ability to conduct a fair trial, make the right conclusion and eradicate this phenomenon in me.

“To rise to the level of Hochma,” means to realize the source of what is happening and manage to rise above it, manage to eradicate this state in myself to such an extent that I already would not have to correct it on this degree.

I receive from the above such a serious force of judgment (judgment as well is the level of Hochma) that from this level, from this moment on, I am already above all the disturbances. Therefore it is considered that I kill them, eradicate them inside me, and correct them.

But in any case, everything dispenses without imprisonment and jails; flight is made to the city of refuge, or the correction happens on the spot.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 12/16/15

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